Moody's Investors Service Inc. on Tuesday lowered its rating on yen-denominated domestic securities issued or guaranteed by the government to Aa3 from Aa2 and maintained a negative outlook on these securities.
But Japan's Aa1 foreign currency ceilings and the government's Aa1 rating for internationally issued bonds, including Euroyen bonds, were unaffected by this action and have maintained their stable outlook, according to the U.S. credit-rating agency.
This is the first downgrade by Moody's since September 2000, making Japan's domestic bond rating the same as Italy's at the lowest level among the Group of Seven major industrialized countries.