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http://www.marketwatch.com/story ... yen-dips-2011-01-27
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Standard & Poor’s on Thursday cut Japan’s long-term sovereign-credit rating, with the news sending the yen sharply lower against its major rivals.
The rating agency said it downgraded Japanese debt to AA minus from AA, but it also reaffirmed the nation’s short-term ratings at A-1 plus.
The news sent the U.S. dollar /quotes/comstock/21o!x:susdjpy (USDYEN 82.7900, +0.6100, +0.7422%) soaring against the yen, hitting ¥83.16 after having traded at ¥82.14 shortly before the announcement.
The euro also spiked against its Japanese rival, climbing to ¥113.41 for a 0.7% gain, according to FactSet.
S&P said in a statement that it “expects Japan’s fiscal deficits to remain high in the next few years, which will further reduce the government’s already weak fiscal flexibility.”
It said it sees the deficit falling “only modestly” to 8% of gross domestic product in the fiscal year beginning April 2013, compared to an estimated 9.1% for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31. S&P also pointed to Japanese deflation and its aging population as drags on the economy.
“Falling prices have matched Japan’s growth in aggregate output since 1992, meaning the size of the economy is unchanged in nominal terms. In addition, Japan’s fast-aging population challenges both its fiscal and economic outlooks. The nation’s total social-security-related expenses now make up 31% of the government’s fiscal 2011 budget, and this ratio will rise absent reforms beyond those enacted in 2004.”
S&P also criticized the current Japanese government, saying the ruling Democratic Party of Japan “lacks a coherent strategy to address these negative aspects of the country’s debt dynamics.”
Still, it said its outlook on Japan’s long-term rating is stable, reflecting its view that an external balance sheet and “monetary flexibility” are helping offset the nation’s fiscal problems.
J.P. Morgan strategists said the news was “no surprise” despite the market reaction, as Japan had been on a negative rating watch for the past year.
“Furthermore, anyone aware of Japan’s terrible fiscal balance would not be surprised with a ‘AA-’ rating. ... In that sense, today’s S&P decision is not new news,” they said.
The analysts also said that both S&P and its rival Fitch Ratings cut Japan to AA minus back in 2002, though S&P raised it back to AA in 2007.
At the time of the 2002 downgrades, they said, the dollar initially rose 0.5% against the yen, only to drop about 12% in the three months after the initial S&P rating cut.
Lisa Twaronite is MarketWatch's Tokyo bureau chief. Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles. |
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