Argentina Credit Rating Boost

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has raised Argentina’s foreign and local currency credit ratings to B+ from B, with a stable outlook. This is the second ratings upgrade by S&P this year. In March the Agency raised the country’s rating from B- to B. The rating is four levels below investment grade and is the highest credit rating to be awarded to the Latin American nation since it defaulted on its debt in 2001. S&P also raised the foreign and local currency ratings of the cities of Buenos Aires and Mendoza from B to B+. The Agency recently awarded a B+ rating to the planned $250 million bond issue, backed by oil reserves, by the Province of Neuquén. The transaction will be the first structured international notes to be issued with assets originating in Argentina since the country’s debt crisis in 2002.