RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- American financial services company Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced their decision on Thursday to downgrade Brazil's long-term foreign and local currency sovereign bonds from BB to BB-.

With the decision, Brazil's bonds are now three levels below investment grade, down to the same ratings as in 2004, before S&P granted Brazil an investment grade from 2008 to 2015.

In their statement, S&P attributed the downgrade decision to Brazil's delay in taking fiscal measures to help with balancing accounts and improving the fiscal situation.

"Despite various policy advances by the Temer Administration, Brazil has made slower-than-expected progress in putting in place meaningful legislation to correct structural fiscal slippage and rising debt levels on a timely basis," S&P stated in their communique.

According to S&P, there is a "less than one-in-three likelihood" that they could change Brazil's ratings over the coming year.