On March 16, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on the Republic of Ghana to negative from stable. At the same time, the 'B+' long-term and 'B' short-term ratings on Ghana were affirmed. The outlook revision reflects the likelihood of a downgrade if the government's efforts to rebalance the fiscal-monetary policy mix falter as global headwinds affect economic performance and, potentially, capital inflows. The ratings are supported by the prospect of nationally significant oil production volumes by 2011, and relative political stability, but they are constrained by large fiscal and external imbalances. Ghana's key macroeconomic indicators worsened significantly during 2008. After two consecutive years of large fiscal deficits, the central government posted a much larger-than-anticipated 14.9% deficit
