Standard & Poor's credit rating agency unexpectedly cut its outlook for Turkey's creditworthiness from stable to negative yesterday, in effect ending the prospect that the country's rating would be raised this year. Turkey currently has a S&P rating of BB-, three notches below investment grade, the benchmark that allows governments to borrow at cheap rates.

S&P said its negative outlook reflected concerns "regarding the increasingly challenging political and global environment that Turkey faces in the near term". Vincent Boland, Ankara