Rating agency Moody's said on May 14 it has downgraded Montenegro's sovereign rating to B1 from Ba3 and maintained the negative outlook due to fiscal risks associated with the construction of the key Bar-Boljare motorway. At the same time, another global credit rating agency - Standard & Poor's (S&P) - also revised Montenegro's outlook to negative from stable due to the widening fiscal deficit. According to Moody's, the costs for the construction of the first priority section of Bar-Boljare motorway – from Smokovac to Matesevo - could increase the country's public debt, reducing the country's shock absorption capacity. The project's overall costs are estimated at more than 23% of 2014 GDP, which will push the government's debt burden to close to 80% of GDP by 2018, Moody's noted. It added that the project's costs could overrun due to the challenging terrain on which the Smokovac-Matesevo stretch is being built.