RIO DE JANEIRO, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on Friday warned that Brazil's ongoing political crisis and corruption scandals could hurt the country's credit ratings.
S&P said Brazil's positive factors were at below 10 percent, while its negative factors were between 70 and 80 percent.
More than 80 Brazilian government officials, including ministers, senators and deputies, have been involved in a massive corruption investigation called Operation Car Wash, a probe into bribery and kickbacks at state oil giant Petrobras and construction companies it contracted, including Odebrecht.
Brazilian President Michel Temer said Wednesday that he would not allow the investigation to paralyze the government.
"The government cannot be paralyzed," Temer said, a day after the Federal Supreme Court (STF) had revealed the extent of the wide-reaching probe into corruption in the public sector.
"Nothing must stop the activity of the government," said Temer after some of his closest aides appear on the court's investigation list of suspects.
The court's special rapporteur for the investigation, Judge Edson Fachin, on Tuesday unveiled the list, which targets eight ministers.
The suspects have all been incriminated by former executives of construction firms, such as Odebrecht, that paid bribes and kickbacks to officials in exchange for lucrative construction contracts.
