Last week, the rating agency CRISIL has revised its outlook on the long-term debt instruments (excluding Basel III Tier I) of 18 public sector banks (PSB) to 'Stable from 'Negative', while reaffirming their ratings. "The revision in outlook is primarily driven by government's PSB recapitalisation programme for this fiscal, which will improve the financial risk profile of these banks and also help them meet Basel III regulatory capital norms, and provide cushion against expected rise in provisioning for non-performing assets (NPAs)," CRISIL said in a press release. The ratings on Basel III Tier I bonds of nine PSBs have also been reaffirmed, and the outlook has been retained as 'Negative'.