Egypt, rattled by unprecedented protests demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, had its credit ratings cut a notch at Standard & Poor’s, the second agency to lower the country’s ranking in as many days. Standard & Poor’s cut the long-term foreign currency debt rating on Egypt to BB, two levels below investment grade, and lowered the long-term and short-term ratings of local currency bonds to BB+/B from BBB-/A-3. "The ongoing political instability and unrest will hamper Egypt’s economic growth and adversely affect its public finances," the rating agency said in a statement today. The long-term ratings were placed on creditwatch negative, indicating that more downgrades may follow, possibly by "more than one notch," according to the statement. The week-long protests in Egypt have left more than 100 people dead and roiled global stock, bond and oil markets with investors concerned the unrest may spread to other countries in the region and force the closure of the Suez Canal. Moody’s Investors Service yesterday cut Egypt’s government bonds rating cut to Ba2 from Ba1. It also lowered the ceiling for foreign currency bonds to Baa3 from Baa2, and the ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits to Ba3 from Ba2. The protests in Egypt, which erupted on Jan. 25, were inspired by a revolt in Tunisia that forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile on Jan. 14. Mubarak, 82, has been in office since 1981 and hasn’t said whether he will seek re- election when his term expires this year. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine in Dubai at asalha@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for the story: Claudia Maedler in Dubai at cmaedler@bloomberg.net

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