Reuters India report on rumours re S & P and the ratings of France

The Reuters report is linked here. The following quote marks it as speculative:

S&P declined to comment on the report, based on anonymous sources. If true, it would signal that the risk of a downgrade has risen after months of concern about the impact on French public finances of sluggish growth and the costs of the euro zone debt crisi ....

French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said the focus should not be solely on France and that while the euro zone debt crisis was serious, Paris was "clear-sighted" on it.

This blog was alerted to the report by noting an apparently missing paragraph from another Reuters report regarding Italian bond rates and the ongoing Euro Group Ecofin meeting, linked here, as follows:


In Brussels, Eurogroup ministers were expected to approve detailed plans to bolster their bailout fund to help prevent contagion in bond markets, under pressure from the United States and ratings agencies to stop the crisis spreading.

The report about France's credit rating came at a delicate time. Paris is the second largest guarantor of the EFSF bailout fund, and one of only six AAA states in the euro zone. S&P declined comment. French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, asked about the report, said the focus should not be solely on France.