Australia faces ratings downgrade: analysts

Sydney

AUSTRALIA risks losing its top credit rating from Standard & Poor's (S&P) for the first time in more than two decades, Goldman Sachs Group Inc said.

Plunging commodity prices, weaker economic growth and government difficulties in passing legislation are expected to spur a further deterioration of the nation's finances that could lead S&P to place its AAA sovereign rating on negative outlook, according to analysts Tim Toohey and Andrew Boak.