S&P revises Belgium's rating outlook to negative

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Tuesday revised its outlook on Belgium to negative from stable, citing the nation's political turmoil. "We believe that Belgium's prolonged domestic political uncertainty poses risks to its government's credit standing, especially given the difficult market conditions many euro-zone governments are facing," said S&P credit analyst Marko Mrsnik. S&P pointed to the prolonged delay in forming a federal government after the June general election as well as the prolonged inability to form a policy consensus across Belgium's linguistic divide. S&P also affirmed its AA+ long-term and A-1+ short-term ratings on Belgium.
[link to www.marketwatch.com]