NY -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 1/14/1999 -- Standard&Poor's today lowered its long-term senior unsecured rating on the Federative Republic of Brazil's US$58.1 billion of foreign currency debt to single-'B'-plus from double-'B'-minus. Standard&Poor's also lowered its rating on the Republic's long-term real-denominated debt to double-'B'-minus from double-'B'-plus and affirmed its single-'B' rating on the Republic's short-term real-denominated debt, totaling R330 billion (US$250 billion). At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed the Republic's short-term foreign currency rating of single-'B'. Additionally, Standard&Poor's lowered Brazil's long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating to single-'B'-plus from double-'B'-minus and its long-term local currency sovereign credit rating to double-'B'-minus from double-'B'-plus. The rating outlook remains negative. The downgrade and negative
