Fitch affirms Japan's sovereign ratings

TOKYO, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings affirmed Japan's sovereign debt ratings on Friday, citing Japan's exceptional strengths in the country's external balance sheet, balanced against pronounced weaknesses in its public finances.

Fitch said it had affirmed Japan's long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings at AA and AA-minus, respectively. Fitch also affirmed Japan's short-term IDR at F1-plus and the country ceiling at AAA. It said the outlook on the ratings remained stable.

"Large current account surpluses contribute to the ongoing accumulation of external assets, supporting the strongest net external credit position of any rated sovereign," James McCormack, head of Fitch's Asia sovereign ratings group said in a statement. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano)