NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) May 8, 2001--Standard&Poor's today lowered its sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Argentina. The long-term local and foreign currency sovereign credit ratings were downgraded one notch, to single-'B' from single-'B'-plus; the short-term local and foreign currency sovereign credit ratings were downgraded one notch on the short-term rating scale to single-'C' from single-'B'. All ratings remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on March 19, 2001. Standard&Poor's triple-'A' rating on Argentina's $250 million zero coupon note, series C, maturing in October 2001, which has a rolling guarantee from the World Bank, is unaffected. Standard and Poor's also lowered the ratings on the other zero coupon notes with
