Saudi Arabia yesterday reacted sharply to Standard & Poor’s move to downgrade the kingdom’s debt rating. The debt rating agency said it would downgrade Saudi Arabia’s long-term rating a notch, from AA- to A+ with “a negative outlook”, citing “a pronounced negative swing in Saudi Arabia’s fiscal balance”/ Saudi Arabia’s ministry of finance criticised the move as “reactionary” and not based on its economic fundamentals, which include a net asset position of 100 per cent of GDP and large foreign exchange reserves. The ministry also said it “would like to make it clear that the agency acted on an unsolicited basis”."