Spain surprised by S&P's debt downgrade move

MADRID - Spain is "surprised" by a downgrade from Standard & Poor's, which is based on overly pessimistic growth forecasts, said Jose Manuel Campa, the country's deputy finance minister.

S&P cut its rating on Spanish debt to 'AA', putting the nation that was 'AAA'-rated until January 2009 on a par with Slovenia, as it said Spain is underestimating its fiscal problems and overestimating its ability to grow.

He said that his country will have no trouble financing a 16.2 billion euro ($21.3 billion) bond redemption in July and won't need to ask for European Union aid as Greece has.