25 August, 2010, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Fitch Ratings has affirmed at ‘AAA’ the rating of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Trust Service Limited’s US$ 3.5bn Trust Certificate Issuance Program (TCIP) which benefits from a liquidity facility provided by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

The rating affirmation follows the IDB’s announcement that it has increased the ceiling of the program to US$ 3.5 bn from US$1.5bn in August 2010. The trust certificates will take the form of Sukuks, a financing instrument compliant with Shariah law, and will be used to finance a planned growth in the IDB’s operations. The program’s rating is supported by the IDB’s Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘AAA’ with a Stable Outlook.

Operational in 1975, IDB is one of the few multilateral development financial institutions with the highest possible credit ratings issued by the three leading international rating agencies - Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s.