Hugh Schofield
BBC News
13 January 2012
France has lost its top AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s and eight other eurozone governments have also been downgraded by the ratings agency.
Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal were cut two notches, with the latter two given “junk” ratings. Germany kept its AAA rating, and with a stable outlook.
S&P blamed the failure of eurozone leaders to deal with the crisis, or even diagnose its causes correctly.
Rumours of S&P’s move prompted stock markets to fall earlier in the day.
Misdiagnosis
Austria, like France has lost its top AAA rating, and been downgraded to AA+. Its economy exports a lot to recession-struck Italy, while its banks are facing losses on subsidiaries they own in financially troubled Hungary.
S&P’s rating of Italy – currently at the epicentre of the crisis – has been cut two notches from A to BBB+.
Spain was also cut two notches from AA- to A, as was Portugal, whose rating fell from BBB- to a “junk” rating of BB – indicating a very high level of risk for lenders…
…France is being downgraded just one notch by S&P, to AA+.
The country still has a top AAA rating from the other two main ratings agencies, Moody’s and Fitch…
The complete article is at BBC News.
Related: Eurozone back on brink as France has credit rating downgraded
Standard and Poor’s move to cut France’s AAA rating triggers backlash from European politicians and lead to calls for Britain to be downgraded too.
Also, Austerity: Thousands of People Were Laid Off in Britain Today
The British military and Britain’s biggest bank both announced significant cuts today.
In the second round of military cuts since British Prime Minister David Cameron’s austerity program came into effect 4,500 jobs will go. The army gets hit hardest losing between two and three thousand posts this year…
