Spain faces hard 2011 with big deficit, slow growth

With Japan's public debt about to hit 240% of GDP, Fitch Downgrades Japan's Sovereign Rating The ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday lowered its assessment of Japan’s sovereign credit to A+, an investment grade just above the likes of Spain and Italy, and criticized Tokyo for not doing more to pare down its burgeoning debt.

While triggering the U.S. spending cuts known as the sequester and a government shutdown won’t prompt a ratings downgrade, those outcomes “erode confidence” of achieving deficit reduction needed to sustain the nation’s top credit grade, according to Fitch Ratings.

Bloomberg reports S&P Downgrades Spain, Citing Region Backtracking on Bank: Spain’s debt

Fitch cut Italy's credit rating by one notch to A+ from AA- with a negative outlook on Friday, following downgrades by Moody's and Standard & Poor's as the country comes under increasing pressure on the markets."The downgrade reflects the intensification of the euro zone crisis that constitutes a significant financial and economic shock which has weakened Italy's sovereign risk profile," Fitch said in a statement.It said the outlook on Italy's long-term ratings was negative, meaning that they could be downgraded further.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Monday upgraded its credit outlook for the United States government to “stable” from “negative,” saying the chances of a downgrade of the country’s rating is “less than one in three.” In August 2011, S&P became the first credit rating agency to downgrade the sovereign U.S. credit rating from top-rated “AAA” to “AA+,” the second highest rating, and had left the U.S. credit outlook at “negative” at that time.

Fitch Ratings has broken rank with its two fellow ratings agencies and upgraded the Philippines’ sovereign rating to investment grade for the first time, citing the resilience of the domestic economy, improved fiscal management and prudent monetary policy.   The Philippine stock index surged to a record high on Wednesday following the long-awaited ratings action, which is expected to precipitate similar moves by the other major debt watchers in the coming months.  

LONDON/NEW YORK — Britain looked poised to lose its AAA rating from a second ratings agency after Fitch Ratings warned on Friday it was likely to downgrade the country in the coming weeks, citing high government debt levels and weak growth. A month since Britain was downgraded by Moody’s, Fitch put the country on review and said a downgrade was a heightened possibility. A decision is due by the end of April, Fitch said in a statement. Sterling fell sharply, dropping half a cent against the dollar.