Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Latvian Finance Minister Atis Slakteris said credit rating companies, which have cut Latvia's rating in the last month, are not considered ``a responsible'' source of information by foreign investors after the recent financial market turmoil.

The ``sudden bankruptcy'' of Lehman Brothers is an example of the failure of the reliability of credit assessors as the bank ``was regularly given an exceptionally high evaluation.''

Foreign investors ``consider that the credit ratings agencies in recent months have become sources of information that are not overly reliable nor responsible,'' Slakteris said in an e-mailed statement today.

Standard & Poor's yesterday cut Latvia's sovereign rating to BBB-, the lowest investment grade rating, and the second cut in 15 days, after the country took control of Parex Banka AS on Nov. 8. Moody's cut Latvia's rating one level to A3, and lowered the rating for the city of Riga and state-owned bank Hipoteku Banka on Nov. 7.

S&P's cut came after the Latvian government took control of Parex, the former Soviet republic's second-biggest bank by assets, and a report of a deeper-than-expected contraction in the Baltic nation's gross domestic product in the third quarter. Slakteris said the state took over Parex to ensure trust in the financial system.

``The lowering of ratings for Hipoteku un Zemes Banka is in no way connected with the taking over of Parex, but is simply a mechanical result of their evaluation of the overall picture of the economy,'' Slakteris said. ``If even one bank -- of more than 20 -- isn't secure, then the faith of depositors in the financial sector will not be preserved. The government does not express itself in floods of words but acts pre-emptively in the public interest.''

Latvia's economy shrank a preliminary 4.2 percent in the third quarter, the biggest contraction since at least 1994. Estonia's economy contracted 1.1 percent in the second quarter and Lithuania's economy slowed to 3 percent growth in the third quarter.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Eglitis in Riga at aeglitis@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 11, 2008 09:08 EST