BASF Report 2021 Consoli dated Financial Statements – Notes 279 BASF prefers to access external financing on the capital markets. A Ratings as of December 31, 2020 28 Personnel expenses and employees commercial paper program is used for short-term financing, while Noncurrent Current corporate bonds are used for financing in the medium and long financial financial Personnel expenses term. These are issued in euros and other currencies with different indebtedness indebtedness Outlook maturities. The goal is to create a balanced maturity profile, achieve Fitch A F1 stable The BASF Group’s expenses for wages and salaries, social security a diverse range of investors and optimize BASF’s debt capital Moody’s A3 P-2 stable contributions and assistance, as well as for pensions in 2021 totaled financing conditions. Since 2020, BASF has employed green Standard & Poor’s A A-1 negative €11,097 million. In 2020, these expenses amounted to €10,576 mil- corporate bonds to finance the development of sustainable products lion and included personnel expenses from the disposal group for and projects with a clear environmental benefit. the construction chemicals business in the amount of €291 million BASF strives to maintain a solid A rating, which ensures unrestricted until the date of the divestiture. The rise in personnel expenses in BASF currently has the following ratings, which were most recently access to financial and capital markets. 2021 was mainly due to higher bonus provisions. Particularly the confirmed by Fitch on June 11, 2021, and by Moody’s on For more information on BASF’s financing policy, see the Management’s Report from page 64 onward lower average number of employees had an offsetting impact. January 5, 2022. Standard & Poor’s adjusted its outlook for the A rating from “negative” to “stable” on July 16, 2021, and confirmed Personnel expenses the rating on January 6, 2022. Million € 2021 2020 Ratings as of December 31, 2021 Wages and salaries 8,847 8,416 Social security contributions and 1,519 1,424 Noncurrent Current assistance expenses financial financial indebtedness indebtedness Outlook Pension expenses 732 736 Fitch A F1 stable Personnel expenses 11,097 10,576 Moody’s A3 P-2 stable Standard & Poor’s A A-1 stable