SYDNEY, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Global ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has raised its credit outlook on BHP Billiton from negative to stable, due to expected rises in commodity prices and the miners ability to pay down their debt.
"The outlook revision mirrors the improvement in our forecast for commodity prices, which should notably strengthen the company's cash flow generation capacity," S&P said.
"We now assess BHP Billiton's liquidity as exceptional, taking on board the company's sizeable cash on balance sheet, as well as relatively limited debt maturities and positive discretionary cash flow in the next few years."
S&P also suggested the rating for the mining giant could get even better, if they are able to reign in further spending, and turnaround their Houston-based gas and oil division.
BHP will report their second quarter production figures on Wednesday.
