Rating agencies: where does France rank compared to its neighbours?

A relief for the government. On Friday, S&P Global (formerly Standard and Poor’s) maintained France’s rating at “AA” while many feared a one-notch downgrade to “AA-“.

This announcement comes a month after the downgrade of France’s rating by the Fitch agency, which was justified by citing recent social tensions that will hamper the ability to reduce the deficit and debt, as well as lower-than-expected growth prospects .

For its part, S&P Global, considered the most influential of the agencies, rather welcomed “the impact of the recent pension reform” on public debt and the “government’s budgetary consolidation strategy.” What to satisfy Bercy: in the JDDEconomy Minister Bruno Le Maire spoke of a “positive sign”, witness, according to him, of a “credible” financial strategy.

But if S&P didn’t downgrade, the agency also didn’t touch the “negative” outlook, raising the specter of a future downgrade. Its economists point in particular to “risks” related to the execution of budget targets, such as “the absence of an absolute majority” in parliament.

Third best rating

As a reminder, S&P Global, which is one of the three main rating agencies along with Fitch and Moody’s, assesses the financial solvency risk of a company or a State by assigning it a rating on a scale of about twenty notches ranging from “AAA” , the best possible rating, to “D”, synonymous with payment default (C for Moody’s).

By maintaining its “AA” rating, France still maintains the third best rating given by S&P, as do some of its neighbors, such as Belgium and the United Kingdom. If it is valued worse than Germany, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries that still benefit from a “triple A”, it is better valued than Italy (BBB) ​​​​or Spain (A).

9 countries rated “AAA” by the three agencies

Of the 137 countries evaluated, those with a “AAA” rating from the three main rating agencies are rare. There are only 9, of which seven are European: Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway, to which Australia and Singapore must be added.

For its part, the United States is part of the club of countries rated “AAA” by two out of three agencies, Moody’s and Fitch in this case. While S&P “only” gives the “AA+” rating to the first world power. Its main competitor, China, is rated “A1” by Moody’s and “A+” by S&P and Fitch.

Finally, among the countries with the worst ratings by the three rating agencies are Lebanon, in arrears, as well as Belarus, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Suriname and Ukraine.