Britain Gains Triple-A Rating As GDP Grows 0.8 Percent
London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s gave Britain a Triple-A credit rating Tuesday following the release of government data showing a 0.8 percent increase in third quarter gross domestic product, much higher than analysts’ forecast of 0.4 percent.
With Standard & Poor’s rating, Britain was removed from the agency’s roster of countries on its negative watch list. The agency cited the spending review made by the coalition government as its basis in raising Britain’s rating to “stable” from “negative.”
Two other ratings agencies, Fitch and Moody’s, earlier placed the U.K. on a safest rating.
Chancellor George Osborne said the reaffirmed AAA rating is a vote of confidence in the country and the economic policies of the coalition government.
The report by the Office of National Statistics said the Q3 GDP figure indicated all sectors of the British economy were expanding, with the largest growth registered by the construction sector. However, economists warned of a drastic slide in construction after $121.5 billion (81 billion pounds) in spending cuts were implemented.
Osborne said the ONS data indicated 80 percent of the broad-based growth came from the private sector. The chancellor had previously crafted an economic recovery plan driven by the private sector to make up for the massive public spending to be implemented by the coalition government.
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