Standard&Poor's Ratings Services has recently revised its methodology and assumptions for rating sovereign governments. (Listen to the related podcast, "How Standard&Poor?s Updated Sovereign Criteria Affects Mexico?s Ratings," published August 4, 2011.) We have affirmed the 'BBB/A-3' foreign-currency credit ratings on Mexico; at the same time, we have lowered the local-currency credit ratings to 'A-/A-2' from 'A/A-1'. In accordance with our updated sovereign criteria, the long-term local-currency rating on Mexico is two notches above the foreign-currency rating, the maximum permitted under the new methodology. We base this on our assessment of Mexico's monetary and fiscal flexibility, the depth of its local currency debt markets, and its supportive institutional framework. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Mexico's
