Credit rating agency Fitch downgraded Portugal on Friday saying the debt-laden country needed a bailout, while rival agency Standard & Poor’s cut the rating of another debt-stricken European nation Ireland after bank stress tests revealed another black hole. Despite a successful Portuguese debt sale on Friday, Fitch slashed its rating to the lowest investment grade rank of BBB-.
“The severity of the downgrade by three notches mainly reflects Fitch’s concern that timely external support is much less likely in the near term following yesterday’s announcement of general elections to take place on June 5,” said Douglas Renwick, Director in Fitch’s Sovereign Ratings Group.
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