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To: long-gone who wrote (17125)	9/1/1998 9:45:00 AM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116815

FITCH IBCA PLACES JAPAN ON RATING ALERT NEGATIVE ÿÿÿÿÿLONDON (MktNews) - The credit-rating agency Fitch IBCA said Tuesday it has placed Japan's AAA long-term foreign- and local-currency ratings on RatingAlert negative, for a possible downgrade. ÿÿÿÿÿIt said the short-term rating of F1+ is unaffected. ÿÿÿÿÿThe agency said Japan now has weaknesses not associated with other AAA countries, including the high level of government debt, banking and structural problems, and a "hesitant" policy response to economic problems. ÿÿÿÿÿIt noted that no other AAA country has a debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 100% and that Japan is "more seriously troubled" by banking and other structural problems than any other AAA or AA country. ÿÿÿÿÿThe agency added that the recent deterioration in Japan's economic prospects will worsen the situation for both the banking industry and the government's fiscal position. ÿÿÿÿÿ"Together with the indecisive policy response both to the problems in the banking sector and to the recession, this is likely to worsen the contingent liabilities for an increasingly indebted sovereign," the agency said in a press release. ÿÿÿÿÿIt warned that government debt could be as high as 130% of GDP by December 2000, and noted that the government's repeated use of tax cuts and increased public investment has failed to boost growth or aid the structural weaknesses of the economy. 06:12 EDT 09/01 c 1998 Market News Service, Inc. economeister.com