The government has officially protested against the verdict of Standard & Poor's (S&P), which downgraded Ghana's sovereign rating from B+ to B. Registering its indignation at and disagreement with the rating, the government said even though Ghana respected the right of S&P to form and publish an independent analysis, "we strongly believe the conclusion to downgrade Ghana at this juncture was simply wrong, reflecting insufficient analysis and a very negative bias." The government's position was contained in a strong-worded letter signed by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, and addressed to David Beers of the Global-Head, Sovereign Ratings Standard and Poor's in London. The letter said "Our frustration is compounded by our strong belief that S&P's process of engagement prior to downgrading our rating was fundamentally flawed, resulting in both misinformed judgements and factual inaccuracies". It said it was clear that Ghana's performance had been steadily improving and that this trend would only accelerate as the nation embarked on the process of receiving its first-ever oil revenue with the onset of oil and gas production. "We are working tirelessly to ensure appropriate stewardship of these new-found resources and are extremely proud and optimistic about our future prospects", the letter stated. The letter pointed out some contradictions in the statement put out by S&P which indicated "We expect sound economic growth and that fiscal and economic reforms will continue" which, according to the letter, suggested that S&P believed that Ghana's economy had a positive trend. According to the letter, the press release by S&P, for instance, made a number of broad, generalised statements about policy without providing the basis for those conclusions or offering evidence to substantiate them. "I never had the occasion to speak with S&P; neither did the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, or any key government official and technical advisors responsible for a number of policy areas. In S&P's rush to publish its report, opportunities for engagement were denied and important nuances lost," the letter said. On the statement regarding the analysis and commentary on the country's fiscal outlook, the letter explained further that the country's budget was based on a conservative oil price and low production estimates that were far below the base-line production levels used by the IMF and World Bank. "Further, your claim that uncertainty in the oil industry regulation will damage investor confidence and possibly delay oil production is not borne out of facts, including continued strong FDI inflows and the high standing Ghana maintains with international investors", it noted. The letter also raises serious concerns regarding the S&P's analysis of Ghana's fiscal performance. In the press release, S&P referred to Ghana's medium-term fiscal target as "unrealistic" and requested an immediate engagement between senior government and S&P officials to review both the process and the conclusions underpinning the downgrading. Source: Daily Graphic