El Salvador Rating Lowered

US ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded El Salvador’s credit standing to “selective default” after the country’s parliament approved a reform to restructure sovereign debt racked up over pensions, AFP reported. The restructuring means El Salvador has effectively “selectively defaulted on a specific issue or class of obligations but it will continue to meet its payment obligations on other issues or classes of obligations in a timely manner,” according to the agency. S&P said in a statement it had as a consequence downgraded the country’s long-term credit rating and short-term rating in local currency from, respectively, CC and C, to SD.