Standard & Poor's cut in its rating will be seen as a painful rebuke of the government's handling of the under-pressure budget just days before European elections.
RatingsRatings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded France's credit score on Friday citing a deterioration in the country's budgetary position, a blow to Emmanuel Macron's government days before EU parliamentary elections, reports The Economic Times.
In a statement, the American credit assessor justified its decision to drop France's long-term sovereign debt rating from "AA" to "AA-" on concerns over lower-than-expected growth. It warned that "political fragmentation" would make it difficult for the government to implement planned reforms to balance public finances and forecast the budget deficit would remain above the targeted three percent of GDP in 2027. The S&P's first downgrade of France since 2013 puts the EU's second-largest economy on par with the Czech Republic and Estonia but above Spain and Italy. Read more of this report from The Economic Times.
