We are revising the outlook on the Kingdom of Spain to negative from stable, and affirming the 'AA+' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings. Compared to our expectations when we lowered our rating on the sovereign in January 2009, we now believe that Spain will experience a more pronounced and persistent deterioration in its public finances and a more prolonged period of economic weakness versus its peers. In our opinion, reducing Spain's sizable fiscal and economic imbalances requires strong policy actions, which have not yet materialized. On Dec. 9, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on the Kingdom of Spain to negative from stable, and affirmed its 'AA+' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term sovereign credit ratings. The
