By Mari Murayama
Tokyo, Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Kenji Takei, a currency sales vice president at the Tokyo branch of Societe Generale SA, made following remarks on a report that Standard & Poor's Corp. may cut Japanese government bond ratings.
Jiji Press reported an official of the U.S. rating service company said the possibility of a cut is growing and that the downgrade may be severe.
``The news led to yen selling.
``Further downgrading will make it even more difficult for Japanese industries that are facing problems to procure funds, and will even disadvantage better-performing industries.
``Given the possible downgrade and Japanese stock prices (at near a 18-year low), a couple of more ailing companies may go out of business before the end of this fiscal year (ending March 31).''