They were downgraded due to the whole noise about "lack of freedom and democracy" in Poland.
The downgrade is because of the attack on the Constitution. One part of which specifies the limit of borrowing, which is already very close to its maximum.
The Polish government has announced that they will exceed the borrowing limits (the 500 PLN per child bill is largely responsible) and the Constitutional Court cannot stop them.
The borrowing limit is also a %age of GDP, so reducing the GDP with increased taxes (shop tax), and anti-business and anti investment strategy's (bank tax, anti Foreign investment) will increase the 'debt burden'.
The downgrade will also increase the rate that Poland pays to borrow all this money and reduce the money that could be spent investing in Poland.
Its remarkable how much damage economic idiots can do to an economy in the space of a few weeks. Poland will be paying for this for a decade.
still wondering when someone is going to explain how a blanket 2% tax on retailers is going to help small Polish businesses and consumers
You would expect them to tax the rich or those that could afford it (maybe the banks).
Taxing food hits the poor most because its a much bigger part of their spending (VAT is another disgrace, why don't they simply increase it) .