Moody's Strips U.K. of Triple-A Rating

[steve2470]

Source: Wall Street Journal

Moody's Investors Service stripped the United Kingdom of its triple-A
rating, citing continuing weakness in the country's medium-term growth outlook and rising debt burden.

The firm downgraded the U.K. by one notch to Aa1, its second-highest rating, from triple-A. The outlook is now stable.

Moody's expects sluggish growth in the U.K. to extend into the second half of the decade, and subdued medium-term growth prospects facing the government's fiscal consolidation program. As a consequence of the U.K.'s high and rising debt burden, Moody's sees a deterioration in the shock-absorption capacity of the government's balance sheet, which is unlikely to reverse before 2016.

Moody's expects that a combination of political will and medium-term fundamental underlying economic strengths will, in time, allow the government to implement its fiscal consolidation plan and reverse the U.K.'s debt trajectory.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323549204578320613007137362.html

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21554311

UK loses top AAA credit rating for first time since 1978

The UK has lost its top AAA credit rating for the first time since 1978 on expectations that growth will "remain sluggish over the next few years".

The ratings agency Moody's became the first to cut the UK from its highest rating, to Aa1.

Moody's said that the government's debt reduction programme faced significant "challenges" ahead.

Chancellor George Osborne said the decision was "a stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country".

[Ed Suspicious]

1. Austerity leads to deflationary economic cycle. More at 10:00.

[lib2DaBone]

2. "Sluggish Growth".....

Is that like being "a little pregnant"?

How about fraud, money laundering, war profiteering?

The Ponzi scheme is collapsing .....

[Monk06]

3. It's past time for Moody's, Standard and Poor's and other non elected entities to butt out

of rating sovereign debt. UK debt is a political as well as an economic issue and is the rightful business of the UK voters and no one else.

Not to mention that ratings agencies were in cahoots with the banks all through the mortgage bubble and subsequent crisis.

With bailouts and 'quantitative easing' they have made out like bandits while rating the very sovereign debt that they have created with their fraudulent securities and derivative trading, as well as their open blackmail of elected governments.

'To big to fail' is not a description of a market condition it's a threat of reprisal if World Corp does not get it's way and are allowed to continue to rob the US treasury.

[brentspeak]

4. Osborne uncritically accepts Moody's rate demotion

Not surprising, since he's all about Tory-led austerity for the masses.

[quadrature]

5. welcome news for bondholders,

as bond yields will improve.

[Turborama]

6. 1,231 comments so far under The Guardian's article on this

Worth checking out, if you have some spare time: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/23/george-osborne-britain-aaa

[brightone]

7. It's all relative.

If only the UK had been downgraded, it would be an issue but if only Canada and Germany have maintained AAA then not so big. The simple fact is, the world is awash with cash looking for somewhere to go.