Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, in Kuala Lumpur for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, insisted there was no reason to worry about Japan.

Tomomitsu Oba, formerly Japan's vice-finance minister, gave vent to an angry tirade against the agency. "The reasons for the downgrade placed too much emphasis on the fiscal deficit. Japan is a country with excessive savings, Oba, president of the Japan Centre for International Finance, was quoted as saying in the Mainichi Shimbun.

"Provided that the fiscal deficit must be emphasised, why were the ratings for the United States not lowered when the country was deep in the red?" he asked.

"At this very moment, why doesn't the agency lower its ratings for the United States for being the world's biggest debtor nation? Isn't it soft toward its own country?" he added.