Standard & Poor's affirms Ireland rating

Standard & Poor's on Friday affirmed its credit rating on beleaguered Ireland saying the eurozone country had demonstrated a commitment to stabilise its public finances. S&P maintained its rating at BBB+/A-2 and said it believed that Ireland's creditworthiness was "sustained by a strong political consensus in favour of fiscal consolidation." The outlook for Ireland remained "stable," S&P said, adding that the government had sufficient funding from its international aid package to cover its financing needs until the second half of 2013. Ireland's accepted a huge 85-billion-euro ($120 billion) debt rescue package last November with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, agreeing in the process to strong budget restraints. Ireland is also set to benefit from a second bailout for Greece agreed in July that promises reduced interest rates on rescue loans to Ireland and Portugal. S&P said Ireland's fiscal restraints were on the right track and that it expected the country's debt burden to peak at about 110 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2012 before falling to about 103 percent by 2015. However, the ratings agency warned that "any failure to meet these fiscal targets or to restore growth of the domestic economy" would damage debt sustainability and that "downward pressure on the ratings could build." It said the Irish economy was "prosperous and open" and showed promise with its flexible markets but noted that "medium-term" growth prospects were still contained by high levels of public and private debt.