Brazil says debt downgrade contradicts strong fundamentals

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The downgrade of Brazil's debt rating by Standard and Poor's contradicts the country's solid economic fundamentals, the finance ministry said on Monday. The ministry said in a statement that the country continues to grow more than many of the world's largest economies and has low external vulnerabilities due to its massive foreign reserve build-up. (Reporting by Alonso Soto and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Eric Walsh)