National rating scale
A system of grades in which credit quality is compared among borrowers of one country rather than against the whole world at once.
How to read the number
The top step of such a scale means the best quality among domestic borrowers — not equivalence with the top step of an international scale.
When the metric lies
Grades from different agencies are not comparable letter for letter even within one country: methodologies differ, and the same issuer ends up on different steps.
Also known as: domestic rating scale, local scale rating