On Dec. 21, 2007 Standard&Poor's Ratings affirmed its 'BB+' long-term foreign, 'BBB' long-term local, 'B' short-term foreign, and 'A-3 short-term local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Federative Republic of Brazil following a week of mixed success on the fiscal front. The outlook on the ratings is positive. Standard&Poor's also affirmed its 'brAAA' national scale credit, 'BBB' transfer and convertibility assessment, and 3 recovery rating on the republic. The affirmation rests in part on the government's recommitment to maintain a 3.8% of GDP primary (noninterest) surplus for the nonfinancial public sector. The government voted to extend the Desvinculação de Receitas da União (DRU), a measure reducing revenue earmarking, while failing to do the same for the
