Reforms may ease Japan rating pressure: S&P

Downward pressure on Japan's sovereign debt ratings could ease if the government's plans for social security and tax reform show it is tackling its fiscal woes, Standard & Poor's said on Thursday.

Takahira Ogawa, S&P director for sovereign and international public finance rating, also told a telephone news conference that the political outlook was murky and that S&P's view could change depending on future developments. Earlier on Thursday the credit rating agency cut Japan's sovereign debt rating to AA minus from AA, warning that Japan's government debt ratio would continue to rise more than it had previously expected.