Standard&Poor's bases its ratings on Banco Agrícola S.A. on its "strong" business position and capital and earnings, its "adequate" risk position and liquidity, and "average" funding (as our criteria define it). Despite the 'bbb-' SACP, the sovereign ratings restrain the ratings on the bank mainly due to its exposure to sovereign risk. Our bank criteria use the Bank Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) economic and industry risk scores to determine a bank's anchor, the starting point in assigning an issuer credit rating. Our anchor for a commercial bank operating only in El Salvador is 'bb'. Our economic risk score of '8' reflects an "extremely high risk" for "economic resilience" based on low GDP per capita and moderate potential
