BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said on Thursday that Argentina’s decision to “unilaterally” extend maturities on its short-term debt constituted a “default,” and warned that the country’s local and foreign currency sovereign credit ratings were now in “selective default.”

The downgrade came after Argentine bond prices fell and country risk soared to levels not seen since 2005 due to the government’s plans to extend maturities on about $100 billion in debt, stoking fears of a full-blown financial crisis.