Fitch maintains the rating of Belgium to “AA” with a negative outlook – Boursorama

The financial evaluation agency Fitch confirmed Friday the rating assigned to the sovereign debt of Belgium, which remains at “AA” and the prospect of evolution, always negative.

This means that the medium-term agency could lower the rating of the kingdom, which remains “AA”, the third best in its class.

The Fitch rating reflects the strength of this diverse economy and the external creditor position of the country, stable macroeconomic indicators and a relatively strong governance.

“The government carries out structural reforms that will improve the competitiveness of the economy, including a temporary freeze of the indexation mechanism for wages that will lower labor costs of 2 to 3% end 2016 and down 1 % of employers’ social contributions “, says the agency.

The country has also reduced the end of 2015 the level of public pensions and incentives for retirement, yet Fitch rating.

The rating agency expects growth of 1.3% GDP in 2016 and 1.6% next year, driven by household consumption and investment, and supported by interest rates and oil prices remain low.

In 2015, growth was 1.3%, slightly higher than Fitch’s expectations (+ 1.1%).

Fitch maintains its budget deficit forecast for Belgium (raised upward in July) to 2.7% of GDP.

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