BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Dagong, China's domestic ratings agency, on Thursday downgraded the rating outlook for New Zealand from stable to negative partly due to downward pressures on its economic growth.

Ratings for the country's domestic currency and foreign currency sovereign credit were maintained at AA+ and AA, respectively, the agency said in a statement on its website.

"The growing domestic expectation for an interest rate hike will curb its economic growth, which means the economy will face slowdown pressure," the statement said.

While New Zealand's trade will grow steadily due to recovery in the United States and some European countries, the overheating real estate sector and the tapering of asset purchases by the U.S. Federal Reserve will lead to rises of both domestic and external interest rates, it said.

Rising interest rates will restrain private consumption and investment, leading the agency to conclude that the country's growth rates in 2014 and 2015 will slow down to 2.3 and 1.6 percent.

Dagong also cited fiscal balance pressure and a possible drop in New Zealand's external debt solvency as reasons behind the outlook downgrade.

It will keep up with New Zealand's economic and solvency conditions and adjust its ratings if necessary, the agency said.