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Germany, then states, now banks

July 26, 2012

Credit ratings agency Moody's has lowered the economic outlook of 17 German lenders, most of them state-owned, from "stable" to "negative." Moody's has fixed its gaze on the eurozone's top economy this week.

https://p.dw.com/p/15eh0
ARCHIV - Das Logo der Ratingagentur «Moody's», aufgenommen am 29.04.2010 an der Vertretung des Unternehmens in Frankfurt am Main. Nachdem Moody's die Spitzenbonität von Deutschland in Zweifel gezogen hat, überprüft die Ratingagentur nun auch die Kreditwürdigkeit einzelner Bundesländer und des Euro-Rettungsschirms EFSF. Am späten Dienstag (24.07.2012) senkte Moody's zunächst den Ausblick von Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Nordrhein-Westfalen und Sachsen-Anhalt von «stabil» auf «negativ». Foto: Fredrik von Erichsen dpa (zu dpa 0026 vom 25.07.2012) +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++ pixel
Italien Ratingagentur Moody'sImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Most of the 17 moneylenders now deemed by Moody's to have a "negative" economic outlook are state-owned institutions. Their outlook was formerly classified as "stable."

Moody's said in a statement that the changes in outlook for the banks were a consequence of its larger-scale decisions earlier in the week.

The US ratings agency took the exact same step with Germany as a whole late on Monday, along with the Netherlands and Luxembourg. All three countries retained their top-notch Aaa credit rating, however.

The German Finance Ministry responded swiftly and rather critically to this decision late on Monday night.

A day later, Moody's reduced the economic outlook for six German states along with the current version of the overarching eurozone rescue fund, the EFSF.  Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, North Rhine-Westphalia and the prosperous southern states of Baden Württemberg and Bavaria all faced a revised economic outlook.

A change in the economic outlook has no direct bearing on the credit rating assigned by an agency like Moody's, but it can indicate a greater short- or medium-term likelihood of a downgrade being issued.

A change in an entity's credit rating usually leads to higher interest rates being demanded when it seeks to borrow.

msh/jm (AFP, dapd, dpa)