{"id":103729,"date":"2025-05-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T00:00:00","slug":"fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fitch Ratings affirmed Ras Al Khaimah's long-term foreign-currency issuer <\/strong>default <\/strong>rating (IDR) at A+ with a stable outlook,<\/strong> the credit rating agency said in a statement<\/a>. The emirate\u2019s rating is driven by \u201ccontinued solid fiscal position, including low public-sector debt, the benefits of its membership of the United Arab Emirates [\u2026] and high GDP per capita,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

Fitch expects GDP growth to come in at an average of 6.1% in 2025-2026,<\/strong> down from an estimated 6.7% growth rate in 2024. The agency also expects Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s Wynn Al Marjan Island<\/a> \u2014 the UAE\u2019s first licensed integrated resort \u2014 to raise the emirate\u2019s GDP growth by an average of 2 percentage points between 2024 and 2026. The cost of the resort, now estimated at USD 5.2 bn, represents 40% of the emirate\u2019s GDP in 2024 \u2014 up from an initial estimate of 30% of GDP.<\/p>\n

Revenue in the emirate is also on the rise:<\/strong> RAK\u2019s total revenue increased to 26.4% of GDP in 2024, up from 21.3% in 2023, driven by a surge in real estate revenue that can itself be attributed to land sales in Al Marjan Island. Meanwhile, total expenditure increased to 26.4% last year, up from 18.2% in the previous year, which was mostly down to a 5.6 percentage point increase in the emirate\u2019s capital expenditure.<\/p>\n

However, the agency expects total revenue to decline<\/strong> to an average of 20.4% in 2025 and 2026 \u201cas operating revenues decline owing to the accounting treatment of land sales, while capex remains high,\u201d the report reads. This would also affect the accrual basis fiscal balance, with the agency expecting it to shift to a deficit starting in 2025, averaging 5.3% of GDP over 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n

This will be temporary:<\/strong> The agency expects the fiscal deficits across the next two years to be a temporary occurrence, saying that the significant investments in the Wynn resorts have been financed without any major debt accumulation and will lead to a boost in future revenues for the emirate.<\/p>\n

There are factors that could lead to a downgrade for RAK: <\/strong>The agency cited possibilities of lower non-oil growth in the UAE and any potential geopolitical shock that \u201cnegatively affects economic, social or political stability\u201d as factors that could lead to a negative rating action for RAK. In addition, a weakening in public finances due to \u201csustained increases in spending or lower SOE profits\u201d could lead to prolonged budget deficits and a considerable surge in net public debt \u2014 which could, in turn, bring down the emirate\u2019s rating.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also room for improvement:<\/strong> \u201cImprovement in structural factors, such as World Bank Governance Indicators at the UAE level\u201d or economic growth that surpasses Fitch\u2019s forecasts could lead to a positive rating action, the agency wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RAK\u2019s GDP growth is expected to be boosted by the Wynn Al Marjan Island resort<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1556],"tags":[1391,19,7,693,534],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-103729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-debt","tag-economy","tag-enterpriseam-uae","tag-fitch-ratings","tag-ras-al-khaimah","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"fb5f6f48-3c82-4301-a8a7-0d387636c62b","order":"7","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook","related_issue":[103717],"teaser":"RAK\u2019s GDP growth is expected to be boosted by the Wynn Al Marjan Island resort","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/5\/.1f3a573a-b250-4b2d-9e18-1b8852abb0ac.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nFitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook - UAE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RAK\u2019s GDP growth is expected to be boosted by the Wynn Al Marjan Island resort\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UAE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-16T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\"},\"headline\":\"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-16T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/\"},\"wordCount\":456,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"debt\",\"Economy\",\"EnterpriseAM UAE\",\"Fitch Ratings\",\"Ras Al Khaimah\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ECONOMY\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/\",\"name\":\"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook - UAE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-16T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"description\":\"The State of the Nation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"caption\":\"UAE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\",\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook - UAE","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook","og_description":"RAK\u2019s GDP growth is expected to be boosted by the Wynn Al Marjan Island resort","og_url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/","og_site_name":"UAE","article_published_time":"2025-05-16T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"enterpriseam admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"enterpriseam admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/"},"author":{"name":"enterpriseam admin","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d"},"headline":"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook","datePublished":"2025-05-16T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/"},"wordCount":456,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","keywords":["debt","Economy","EnterpriseAM UAE","Fitch Ratings","Ras Al Khaimah"],"articleSection":["ECONOMY"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/","name":"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook - UAE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-05-16T00:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/16\/fitch-affirms-ras-al-khaimahs-long-term-rating-at-a-with-a-stable-outlook\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fitch affirms Ras Al Khaimah\u2019s long-term rating at A+ with a stable outlook"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","name":"UAE","description":"The State of the Nation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization","name":"UAE","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","caption":"UAE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d","name":"enterpriseam admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com"],"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"enterpriseam admin","author_link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1319.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103729\/revisions"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/103717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103729"},{"taxonomy":"brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/brand?post=103729"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=103729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}