UK 'Should Be Downgraded' Before France, Says ECB's Christian Noyer

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain should have its AAA credit rating [downgraded] before France, according to Christian Noyer, head of the French central bank, as the war of words between the two countries heats up following David Cameron's EU treaty veto.

A downgrade of France's AAA rating would not be justified and the ratings agencies are making decisions based more on politics than economics, said Christian Noyer, who is a European Central Bank policymaker as well as head of the Banque de France.

Standard and Poor's is due to decide whether or not to downgrade eurozone countries in the coming days following an EU agreement on Friday to forge tougher fiscal rules.

"The downgrade does not appear to me to be justified when considering economic fundamentals," Mr Noyer said in an interview with local newspaper Le Telegramme [sic] de Brest.

"Otherwise, they should start by downgrading Britain which has more deficits, as much debt, more inflation, less growth than us and where credit is slumping," he went on. » | Agencies | Thursday, December 15, 2011