Brazil fiscal position reason for upgrades-minister

Thu May 29, 2008 4:06pm EDT
BRASILIA, May 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's solid fiscal position is the main reason behind its recognition by two major credit agencies, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Thursday after Fitch Ratings upgraded the country to investment grade.
Fitch Ratings raised Brazil's credit ratings to "BBB-" earlier, making it the second large ratings agency to give it the coveted classification in less than a month.
Standard & Poor's upgraded Latin America's largest economy in April. Moody's Investors Service is the only major agency to now rate Brazil's sovereign bonds below investment grade. (Reporting by Isabel Versiani; Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Angus MacSwan and James Dalgleish)