Fitch lowered Japan’s sovereign rating to A – Bourse Les Echos

TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) – Fitch Ratings downgraded a notch Monday the sovereign rating of Japan, arguing that the lack of measures in the draft budget this year to compensate the postponement of the increase VAT.

The rating is degraded to A, five levels below the highest rating is AAA. The outlook assigned to the new rating is stable.

The project of lowering the corporate tax rate also increases uncertainty about the government’s ability to meet its debt reduction targets, argues Fitch.

The postponement of the VAT increase had led Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade its rating last year from Japan to A1, one step above the Fitch rating. (Stanley White, Veronique Tison for the French service)