Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's may be creating a minor, additional headache for Australian-owned and New Zealand banks funding their NZ banking businesses, with an announcement that it revised the agency's outlook on New Zealand's foreign currency rating from stable to negative, pointing to the country's "sizeable" current account deficit as a per cent of GDP.S&P indicated that the government's next budget will be the key as to whether the rating is downgraded, saying a credible medium-term fiscal plan was needed for the rating to stabilise.The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will be watching the rating closely because a downgrade could partially counter the lowering of the cash rate. The next announcement from the Reserve Bank on the OCR will be on January 29. Market economists are predicting the OCR will be lowered to between four per cent and 3.5 per cent by mid-2009.Standard and Poor's affirmed New Zealand's 'AA+' foreign currency rating and its 'AAA' local currency long-term rating as well as its 'A-1+' short-term ratings on New Zealand and the ratings on the country's debt issues.Finance Minister Bill English responded to the statement by Standard and Poor's, saying: "In our view, while the current account deficit is large and has been growing, it is likely to narrow somewhat in the next few years. In the meantime, the government is committed to the kind of fiscal policy consolidation that Standard and Poor's has referred to."Interest.co.nz