WORLD
S&P downgrades 9 eurozone countries
Baku, January 14 (AZERTAC). Bond rating agency Standard & Poor`s downgraded nine eurozone countries Friday.
S&P cut France and Austria`s top, triple-A ratings by one notch to AA+.
It left Germany, the Netherlands and Finland`s triple-A ratings untouched. Also unchanged were Luxembourg at AAA, Belgium at AA, Estonia at AA- and Ireland at BBB+.
That leaves Germany as the only top-rated backer of Europe`s bailout fund for troubled economies.
S&P also cut Italy and Spain by two levels. Italy fell to BBB+ from A and Spain fell from AA- to A. Portugal and Cyprus also dropped two notches. The agency also cut ratings on Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia.
“In our view,” it said on its website, “the policy initiatives taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the eurozone.”
The announcements came after North American markets closed, but reports of the pending downgrades during the day helped send shares lower.
France`s finance minister, Francois Baroin, went on television to confirm his country`s downgrade before markets in Canada and the U.S. finished trading for the day, saying the cut was "bad news" but not "a catastrophe."
"You have to be relative, you have keep your cool," he said.
"It`s necessary not to frighten the French people about it."
Also weighing on shares was the announcement that crucial negotiations between the Greek government and its private creditors on a deal needed to avoid default had been "paused for reflection," which raised concerns the negotiations were close to collapse.