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S&P gives top marks to Germany

January 10, 2014

US ratings agency Standard & Poor's has confirmed that Germany's creditworthiness leaves nothing to be desired. The assessment was based on an analysis of the country's competitiveness and budgetary policy.

https://p.dw.com/p/1AoPJ
Triple A in front of euro banknote
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

S&P on Friday affirmed Germany's excellent creditworthiness, giving it a triple-A rating once again and adding that the outlook for Europe's biggest economy was stable and there would probably be no reason to change its rating any time soon.

Standard and Poor's specifically mentioned Germany's high level of competitiveness - coupled with shrewd budgetary policy.

"In addition, Germany has shown it can withstand big economic and financial shocks," the agency said in justifying its rating.

Keeping spending at bay

S&P's assessment came as Germany continued to be perceived as one of the world's safest havens for capital investments by most market players.

Suing the Ratings Agencies

The German government said towards the end of last year that it would borrow less money than originally planned, meaning it would require less than the roughly 25 billion euros ($34 billion) in fresh borrowing in 2013.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble had previously said he expected the deficit to shrink to a little over 6 billion euros in the current year which would be the smallest in four decades, and penciled in a small surplus for 2015.

The optimistic outlook hinges on Germany's low unemployment levels, which has lead to rising tax revenues helping to consolidate state finances.

hg/pfd (Reuters, dpa)