Good News for UK Credit Rating

S&P leaves rating unchanged.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s left Britain’s credit rating unchanged on Friday, citing a swift response from authorities in limiting the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

S&P kept the rating at “AA”, one down from a top-notch score, with a stable outlook. Britain had lost its “AAA” rating shortly after the 2016 Brexit vote.

“With their swift and coordinated response to limit the economic impact of COVID-19, the UK government and the Bank of England have demonstrated sizable fiscal and monetary flexibility,” S&P said in a statement.

While acknowledging that Britain’s fiscal deficit was likely to rise to around 14% of economic output, S&P said the country’s creditworthiness was helped by issuing its own currency and very long maturities of government debt.

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