Surrounded by rating agencies and less bold on the spread front, France goes on the counterattack: Finance Minister Francois Baroin has asked for sanctions against the S&P rating agency which accidentally announced a downgrade of the country.
“One cannot have important responsibilities in the field of the economy without being subjected, in the event of an error, to sanctions commensurate with its impact,” Baroin said during a conference. The episode in question, into which the European Union has opened an investigation, dates back to last November 10 when the American rating giant, due to a technical error, released a message suggesting the possibility of a rating change of the Elysium.
A mistake described by Baroin as "shocking". But which in substance could however prove to be more of a premonition than an error. Yesterday Fitch also warned that with spreads at such high levels triple A is at risk. The Chinese of Dagong, Beijing's controversial and more than ever active rating agency, have already cut the triple A of France for some time, as well as other important Western economies. On the other hand, S&P had already ended up in the eye of the storm when it cut the US rating to triple A last summer: at the time, the US Treasury had accused it of having committed a 2 trillion dollar calculation error in its analysis dollars. But, you know, when the judgments hit the French grandeur then the music changes.
