Ratings agency Moody‘s on Tuesday lowered the outlook on the EU’s bailout fund from stable to negative, after threatening the triple-A credit ratings of three of the eurozone‘s major guarantors.

Moody’s said its decision to lower the outlook on the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) reflected the changes in outlooks on Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. But it maintained the EFSF‘s triple-A rating.

The ratings agency said that although outlook changes for those countries “imply an increased likelihood that the EFSF might be downgraded over the next 12 to 18 months,” it had left its rating unchanged for now.

“Risks that would negatively affect the creditworthiness of the EFSF program, leading to a downgrade of the EFSF’s rating, would include a deterioration in the creditworthiness of the participating euro area member states,” Moody‘s said.

“Conversely, the outlook on the EFSF’s ratings could return to stable if the outlooks on the ratings of Aaa countries with large EFSF contribution keys, i.e. Germany, France and the Netherlands, were moved to stable.”

On Monday, Moody‘s lowered its assessment of the German, Dutch and Luxembourg economies from stable to negative, in a first step towards a full credit rating downgrade.

The agency said that the three AAA-rated countries faced risks from the increased prospect of Greece leaving the eurozone and from the possible need to bail out Spain and Italy.

“The level of uncertainty about the outlook for the euro area, and the potential impact of plausible scenarios on member states, are no longer consistent with stable outlooks,” it said.(AFP)


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무디스, EFSF 신용전망 ‘부정적’으로 하향

국제 신용평가사인 무디스는 24일(현지시간) 유럽재정안정기금(EFSF)의 신용등급 전망을 `안정적’에서 `부정적‘으로 하향 조정했다.

무디스의 이번 결정은 EFSF의 최대 출연국인 독일을 비롯해 네덜란드, 룩셈부르크 등 EFSF 참가 3개국의 신용등급 전망을 부정적으로 하향 조정한 뒤 하루 만에 나온 것이다.

무디스는 “EFSF의 신용등급 전망을 내린 것은 독일, 네덜란드, 룩셈부르크 등 3개국 신용등급을 조정한데 따른 것”이라고 밝혔다.

무디스는 EFSF의 신용등급 자체는 종전의 최고 등급인 ’AAA‘(트리플 A)로 유지했다.

독일은 EFSF 재원의 29.1%를 분담했고 네덜란드와 룩셈부르크는 각각 6.1%, 0.3%를 EFSF에 출연했다.