PARIS (MNI) – France’s triple-A credit rating is stable, but
remains under constant review and could evolve if the situation changes,
the president of Standard & Poor’s for Europe said Thursday.
“France’s rating is triple-A stable, like some 15 countries
worldwide; it’s the case since 1975,” Carole Sirou said in a radio
interview. “We’re confident about this rating.”
“Of course, if things should evolve, we would change it, as we did
for the United States,” she added.
Concerning doubts in the market and among political leaders about
the stability of this rating, Sirou said, “There are many rumors. We
never comment about rumors, we are never the source of rumors.”
Sirou played down the importance of the constitutional amendment
proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that would oblige each new
government to commit to a deficit-reduction timetable at the outset of
its mandate.
“Regulatory elements can be a plus,” she said. “But there again
it’s the trend, commitments and the realization of these commitments”
that count.
The election of a Socialist-led government in France next year
would not automatically change S&P’s assessment, she indicated. “We look
at the entire complex. We are completely apolitical.”
“We simply look at the commitment of public authorities” — how
they act and whether their fiscal policies are “credible and
sustainable,” she added.
–Paris newsroom +331 4271 5540; Email: ssandelius@marketnews.com.
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