S&P puts 15 euro zone nations on negative watch
时间：2011-12-06 07:24:55
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NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Standard and Poor's put 15 eurozone nations, including the area's six AAA rated countries, on "CreditWatch negative" on Monday due to deepening economic and political turmoil1 in the region, meaning there is 50 percent chance for these countries to be downgraded with the next 90 days.
In its latest statement, S&P said "the CreditWatch placements are prompted by our belief that systemic stresses in the eurozone have risen in recent weeks to the extent that they now put downward pressure on the credit
standing2 of the eurozone as a whole."
These systemic stresses, according to the rating agency, stem from
tightening3 credit conditions, higher risk
premiums4, continuing disagreements among European policy
makers5, high levels of government and household indebtedness and rising risk of economic recession.
According to the S&P, their credit ratings may be cut depending on the result of the key EU summit on Dec. 9.
Meanwhile, S&P maintained its negative outlook for Cyprus, and Greece wasn't put on "CreditWatch." The firm also said that ratings could be cut by one
notch6 for Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands and Luxembourg, and by up to two
notches7 for the other governments.
S&P's move came as
investors8 cheered the Franco-German plan to rewrite the EU constitution for more central control of euro zone budgets.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German
Chancellor9 Angela Merkel met on Monday in Paris, trying to reach common ground on measures to boost coercive budget discipline in the region.
In a
joint10 press conference after the meeting, Merkel and Sarkozy said that Europe's two biggest economies were
aligned11 on backing automatic penalties for
deficit12 violators and locking limits on debt into euro states' constitutions.
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