S&P places Argentina credit ratings under review for downgrade
The S&P ratings agency placed Argentina’s short- and long-term credit ratings under review for possible downgrade Friday, citing pressure on the country’s currency.
“We are placing our ‘B+’ long-term and ‘B’ short-term sovereign credit ratings on Argentina on CreditWatch with negative implications,” Standard & Poor’s said.
The agency praised efforts by President Mauricio Macri’s administration to “stabilize the economy through difficult austerity measures,” including a $50 billion stand-by loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
But “recent pressure on the Argentine currency could jeopardize the effective implementation of economic adjustment measures, absent further steps to boost investor confidence,” it said.
Argentina’s currency has lost more than 50 percent of its value against the dollar since the start of 2018 as investor confidence in the South American giant has plummeted.
It began to recover on Friday, making a small gain after losing 20 percent of its value against the dollar over the previous two days.
