Fitch ‘likely’ to downgrade six eurozone economies - reports

After Standard & Poor's, now Fitch is reportedly preparing for announcing a downgrade of 'six eurozone economies' by end of month.

19 January 2012, 12:00am
by Karl Stagno-Navarra

1 min read

Fitch credit rating agency main office in New York

Fitch Ratings is likely to lower ratings of six eurozone nations that are currently under review, by one or two notches, by the end of this month, reports said citing comments made by managing director Edward Parker in separate events in Europe.

The agency has placed Spain, Italy, Ireland, Cyprus, Belgium and Slovenia on review in December for possible downgrades. Parker said the review would be concluded by the end of January.

Standard & Poor's last week lowered the long-term ratings on Malta, Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain by two notches and downgraded the ratings on Austria, France, Slovakia, and Slovenia by one notch.

Meanwhile, S&P affirmed the ratings on Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.