Rejection of Italy by Moody's. The rating agency downgraded the sovereign debt to A2 level from the current Aa2. Not only that: the outlook (and therefore prospects) is negative.
But for Palazzo Chigi "Moody's choice was expected". «The Italian government – reads a note from the Prime Minister – is working with maximum commitment to achieve the public budget objectives. Those same objectives which were today positively welcomed and approved by the European Commission». On June 17, Moody's had placed Italy under observation in view of a cut in its debt rating. "The downgrade of Italy's rating - the agency now explains - is partly due to the risks deriving from economic and political uncertainties" which jeopardize the government's achievement of the budgetary consolidation objectives and "in part to the increased downside risks to economic growth and a weakening global outlook», as well as a general decline in confidence in eurozone countries' debt issuance.
On 20 September it was the rating agency Standard & Poor's, surprisingly, that cut the rating on Italy's short- and long-term sovereign debt by one notch, bringing it to «A» from «A+» and to «A-1» from the previous «A-1+».
The comment of the secretary of the Democratic Party, Pierluigi Bersani is harsh: «The downgrading is a blow. Italy is better than that rating, but if there isn't a change, distrust risks dragging us down».
