We are lowering the long-term sovereign credit rating on the Republic of Austria to 'AA+' from 'AAA'. At the same time, we are affirming Austria's 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit rating. The downgrade reflects our opinion of the impact of deepening political, financial, and monetary problems within the European Economic and Monetary Union (eurozone), with which Austria is closely integrated. The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. FRANKFURT (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 13, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today lowered the long-term sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Austria to 'AA+' from 'AAA'. We removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Dec. 5, 2011. At the same time, we affirmed the short-term sovereign
