Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Monday slashed the credit rating for Mexico’s national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, piling more pressure on the government to tighten up the debt-laden oil firm’s finances. S&P followed the Pemex cut with lower credit outlooks for a range of major Mexican financial institutions and companies, including telecommunications giant America Movil and Coca-Cola Femsa, the world’s largest Coke bottler. The agency’s moves highlight overall concerns with the Mexican government’s debt load and spending plans that were raised when S&P lowered the government’s credit outlook to negative on Friday. S&P cut its stand-alone assessment of Pemex to ‘B-‘ from ‘BB-‘, reflecting growing concern that financial support pledged by the government to […]