Brasilia, Jul 29 (IANS): US credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has lowered its forecast for Brazil's foreign currency debt from stable to negative while maintaining the country's long-term rating at BBB-.

The move will do little to restore ailing hopes that Brazil's economy will soon turn around, given the Brazilian Real's recent plummet against the US dollar and the fact that BBB- rating is the last notch in S&P's scale of investment recommendation, reported Xinhua news agency.

At the same time, S&P reaffirmed Brazil's A-3 qualification on short-term foreign-currency debt, the BBB rating on long-term local currency debt, and A-2 for short-term local currency debt.

In a note announcing these facts on Tuesday, S&P declared that "a significant political correction had taken place during the second term of President Dilma Rousseff" but that "Brazil was still facing difficult political and economic circumstances".

"The number of corruption investigations into certain companies and politicians is weighing ever more heavily on Brazil's political and financial outlook, putting at risk the effective implementation of this policy, particularly in Congress," read the note.