MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook on Russia's long-term sovereign credit ratings to negative from stable, the international ratings agency said on Thursday.
At the same time, S&P affirmed Russia's BBB+ long-term foreign currency and A- long-term local currency ratings, as well as the country's A-2 short-term ratings. In addition, S&P lowered Russia's Transfer and Convertibility assessment to BBB+ from A-, the agency said.
"The outlook revision reflects the likelihood of a downgrade if costs to the Russian government of the bank rescue operations continue to increase, amid rising capital outflows as confidence in the financial system and the monetary regime declines," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Frank Gill said.
