S&P affirms UK's AAA rating, says outlook stable

London: Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s says Britain has retained its top-notch AAA rating, adding that it regards the country’s economic outlook as stable.

The agency said Friday that it anticipated Britain would see “relatively modest real GDP growth of about 1.6 percent between 2012 and 2015.”

[caption id=“attachment_275800” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”] [/caption]

The announcement is good news for British Treasury chief George Osborne, who iscommitted to slashing Britain’s large debt through budget-cutting - a policy that has yet to deliver much economic growth.

In February, ratings agency Moody’s dropped Britain’s outlook from “stable” to “negative.”

Standard & Poor’s acknowledged government fiscal policy would likely be a drag on economic growth, but said “the UK economy’s capacity to absorb shocks has improved.”

AP