SP downgrades Japan's debt rating

TOKYO: Japan’s sovereign credit rating was downgraded to AA- by Standard and Poor’s, the same level as China, on concern that Prime Minister Naoto Kan hasn’t done enough to curb the world’s largest debt load.

“The downgrade reflects our appraisal that Japan’s government debt ratios – already among the highest for rated sovereigns – will continue to rise further than we envisaged before the global economic recession hit the country,” S&P said in a statement yesterday. The cut, from AA, was the first since 2002.