NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) April 22, 1999—Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'B'-plus senior debt rating to the Federative Republic of Brazil's prospective five-year global bond. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its single-'B'-plus senior unsecured rating on the Republic's US$57.6 billion in outstanding foreign currency debt and its double-'B'-minus/'B' senior unsecured credit ratings on the Republic's Brazilian real (R$) 385 billion of long- and short-term local currency debt. Additionally, Standard&Poor's affirmed its long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Republic (see below). The outlook remains negative. The rating and outlook balance the initial successes of the adjustment program now under way with the significant credit challenges that remain.
