France pledges more efforts to keep sovereign debt rating

France considered higher efforts to maintain its triple A debt rating and to meet deficit target after Moody's warning to place France's rating on negative outlook, French finance minister said on Tuesday. "Triple A rating is not in danger because we will even be ahead of the deficit target. If necessary, we will take needed moves to be at the rendezvous," Francois Baroin told the state-run TV channel France 2. "We will make every effort to not be degraded," he added. Asking about the possible impact of an eventual rating slap, Baroin estimated "too high" the government growth target in 2012 set at 1.75 percent adding that further measures would be decided. On Monday, Moody's said considering a negative outlook on France's Aaa credit rating in the next three months due to the country's challenge of providing additional support to other European countries or to its own banking system. "Rating downgrade would lead to an increase in interest rates and, therefore, the country's debt. This would increase the budget deficit and we would have a snowball effect ... expected to deepen the problems of deficit and debt," Nicolas Bouzou, an economist told local broadcaster Europe1. Despite official reassuring remarks, Paris's CAC 40 snapped last sessions' gain and plunged by 1.42 percent to 3,121 points at GMT 1044. Banking sector which dominates the French market, lost 3.27 percent at early trading. The country's largest banks of BNP Paribas and Societe Generale reported loss up to 6 percent as their outlook remained clouded by possible impact of an eventual Greek default.