NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Jan. 19, 2000-- Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'B'-plus foreign currency sovereign credit ratings to the Republic of Brazil's US$1 billion Global Bond offering, due in 2020. The stable outlook reflects the recovery of financial stability following the Brazilian real crisis of January 1999, earned through fiscal austerity and monetary discipline. Likely achievement of the 3.1% of GDP public sector primary surplus target for 1999 marks the most serious fiscal effort of the Real Plan period, and represents a break from past fiscal laxity. The outlook incorporates the expected passage of the 2000 budget and the sizable challenges of 1) transforming this stabilization into a permanent fiscal adjustment through needed legislation, and 2)
