Two of the world’s three major credit rating agencies downgraded New Zealand’s credit rating Friday amid concerns about high debt burdens.

Fitch and Standard and Poor’s both downgraded New Zealand from an AA-Plus to AA. The downgrade caused the New Zealand dollar to slide 1.5 percent.

New Zealand Finance Minister Bill English defended the country’s economic performance, saying the government has been trying to reduce foreign debt and private savings have started to increase.

The downgrade was the first for the Pacific country in 13 years.