Kazakhstan's credit rating has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings with the agency citing the detrimental effect of lower oil prices on the country's economy.
Fitch cut Kazakhstan's credit grade from BBB+ to BBB, the rating company's second-lowest investment grade.
It was Kazakhstan's third downgrade since the country's currency sank in January to a record low amid plummeting oil prices.
The ratings agency said low oil prices led to the Kazakh government's debt being 22.1 percent of GDP in 2015, a steep jump up from 13.9 percent the previous year.
Fitch also predicted that Kazakhstan's economy would contract by 1 percent this year.
The agency also pointed to Kazakhstan's high inflation rate of 15.7 percent in March -- the highest such rate in seven years -- as a reason for the downgrade.