NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 2, 2002--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its double-'B'-plus long-term local and double-'B' long-term foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Costa Rica. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its single-'B' short-term local and foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on the republic. Standard&Poor's has revised the outlook on its long-term ratings to stable from positive, attributable to Costa Rica's weaker-than-expected fiscal performance and sizeable external financing needs. Policymakers in Costa Rica will find it increasingly challenging to finance a projected current account deficit of about 5% of GDP and a public-sector deficit of nearly 4.0% of GDP in 2002, given the relatively adverse external market conditions and the low
