Credit rating agency downgrades Italy’s government debt

The Fitch credit rating agency followed in Moody’s steps as it downgrade Italy’s credit worthiness from AA- to A+, citing high public debt, low growth and the political technical and complex solution necessary to fix Italy’s financial concerns and attract back investors, the Associated Press reports.

The agency said the long-term outlook for both Italy and Spain was negative. AP describes the downgrade as a renewed blow for Europe, with Italy and Spain having the eurozone’s third and fourth largest economies. AP reports that the two countries are considered “too expensive to rescue”.

This is the third time a credit rating agency downgraded Italy: last Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Italy’s bond rating to A2, while in September, Standard & Poor’s cut Italy’s long and short term sovereign credit ratings one notch.