FRANKFURT (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 17, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it lowered its long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Hungary to 'BBB/A-3' from 'BBB+/A-2'. The outlook is negative. The ratings were removed from CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on Oct. 15, 2008. At the same time, Standard&Poor's lowered the long- and short-term issuer credit ratings on the City of Budapest to 'BBB/A-3' from 'BBB+/A-2'. The outlook is negative. "The downgrade reflects the adverse impact of a deteriorating international financial and economic environment on the Hungarian economy," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Kai Stukenbrock. "Dependence on external financing inflows as well as the high
