LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 5, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it lowered its long-term local currency sovereign credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on the Republic of Poland to 'A-' from 'A', and its short-term local currency sovereign credit and commercial paper ratings to 'A-2' from 'A-1'. The downgrade reflects widening fiscal deficit projections and the continued rapid increase in the government's indebtedness. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed all its other ratings on Poland, including its 'BBB+' long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating. The outlook remains negative. "Standard&Poor's projects the general government deficit on a cash basis at 8.3% of GDP in 2004, up from 6.1% in 2003, and at about 7.0%
