Fitch boots Brazil deeper into junk rating

RIO DE JANEIRO: Fitch agency cut Brazil's sovereign debt rating again Friday, sending it deeper into junk status after the government gave up on attempts to get approval for pension reforms.

The long-term foreign currency issuer default rating was cut below investment grade, from BB to -BB.

"Brazil's downgrade reflects its persistent and large fiscal deficits, a high and growing government debt burden and the failure to legislate reforms that would improve the structural performance of public finances," Fitch said in a statement.

The rating outlook was revised from negative to stable.

President Michel Temer's government has conceded it cannot get enough support in Congress to pass cuts to the generous pension system before elections take place in October.

Brazil's ministers have repeatedly described the cuts as necessary to restoring the country's fiscal health after a hard two-year recession.