The rating agency Standard and Poor’s maintained today the debt rating of Portugal, “BB”, which remains in the category of speculative investments and with a stable outlook.
“The stable outlook balances our expectation of an improvement in the labor market and public finances with a lesser risk of external demand, a delay in the private sector deleveraging and persistent deflationary pressure, “said the agency in a statement. Contrary to expectations, its rival Fitch had also held October 10 the debt rating of Portugal in the category of investment at risk.
Portugal was released in May of financial bailout granted three years earlier by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which required the country to implement a severe austerity cure before it finds access to debt markets.
The Portuguese Treasury plans to place next Wednesday between 750 million and one billion euros of debt in ten years. In its draft budget for 2015, the Portuguese government plans to reduce the public deficit from 4.8% to 2.7% of GDP without adopting new austerity measures. However, this objective is considered too optimistic by the European Commission, which expects a deficit of 3.3% of GDP and warned Lisbon against a “release” of its fiscal consolidation efforts.
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