印度和台湾的评级展望由“稳定”下调为“负面”“stable” to ”negative”,

Asian countries risk cuts to ratings, says S& P
By Justine Lau in Hong Kong , John Burton in Singapore 2009-06-10

Standard & Poor's has sounded the alarm over the creditworthiness of some Asian countries, saying they are at risk of debt downgrades even if the global economy stabilises.

The credit ratings agency said yesterday that sovereign debt ratings were coming under pressure because of huge economic and financial rescue packages announced by governments that have led to spiralling budget deficits. Recent fiscal measures to fight recession and stabilise banking systems would weigh on the public finances of several Asian economies, S&P said. Rising national debts would put credit ratings under strain.

“The worst of the economic dislocation in Asia Pacific appears to be over, if recent indicators are to be believed, but fiscal deterioration resulting from stimulus and banking sector support measures will continue to put pressure on a number of sovereign ratings in the medium term,” said S&P.

The agency's comments follow its recent decision to lower outlooks on India and Taiwan from “stable” to ”negative”, a move that reflected the “fiscal deterioration associated with providing support for their respective economies”. Political unrest in Fiji, Sri Lanka and Thailand were also “important reasons for negative actions on sovereign ratings”, S&P said.

Its warning came as Fitch yesterday cut Malaysia's long-term local currency rating from A-plus to A on worries over its growing budget deficit.

But S&P said some Asian economies, such as Australia, China and Hong Kong, would be able to assume higher debt levels without a materially adverse impact on their creditworthiness because of the relative strength of their balance sheets.

标准普尔(Standard & Poor's)已针对一些亚洲国家的信用评级发出警报，称即使全球经济企稳，这些国家也面临着信用评级下调的风险。

该信用评级机构昨日表示，由于这些国家的巨额经济及金融救市计划导致预算赤字激增，这些国家的主权信用评级将面临压力。标准普尔表示，近期出台的对抗衰退、稳定银行业体系的财政措施，将给数个亚洲经济体的公共财政带来沉重负担。国债水平上升，将令信用评级处于压力之下。

标准普尔表示：“如果近期亚太地区的经济指标具有可信度，则该地区或已安然渡过经济动荡的最糟糕时期，但经济刺激计划与银行业支持措施所导致的财政恶化趋势，将在中期内继续对诸多主权评级施压。”

该机构发表上述评论之前不久，决定将印度和台湾的评级展望由“稳定”下调为“负面”，此举反映了“对各自经济提供支持所导致的财政恶化趋势”。斐济、斯里兰卡和泰国出现的政治骚乱也是“主权评级负面变动的主因”。

周二，出于对马来西亚预算赤字不断攀升的担忧，惠誉(Fitch)将该国长期本币评级从A+下调至A。

但标准普尔表示，澳大利亚、中国和香港等一些亚洲经济体由于资产负债表相对有实力，将能够在不给本国信用评级带来重大负面影响的情况下，承担更高的债务水平。

译者/陈云飞