On Jan. 30, 2007, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on Banco Agrfcola S.A. (Agrfcola) to positive from stable. The counterparty credit ratings on the bank are 'BB/B'. The change in the outlook reflects our belief that efforts to improve the bank's financial profile are finally resulting in stronger financial performance as significant progress was achieved in asset quality and recurrent profitability during 2006. This positive trend is expected to continue during 2007, thus addressing some weaknesses that constrain the bank's credit quality. The ratings on Agricola are constrained by an important amount of restructured loans and foreclosures, residual problems of the coffee sector, and the relatively small size and limited diversification of El Salvador's economy. The ratings
