Contrary to earlier posts here which were wrong... ABC Online... Standard and Poor's has rejected Fairfax media's suggestions that Australia's AAA credit rating is at risk.
The Financial Review suggests the country's top rating could be jeopardised if the Government's budget measures to rein in the deficit do not clear the Senate.
The AFR quotes Craig Michaels, a lead sovereign rating for S&P, as saying at least "some" of the Abbott Government's proposals needed to clear the Senate to safeguard Australia's AAA rating.
However, Mr Michaels told the ABC it is too early to speculate on the parliamentary process, and that the agency views the Government as committed to addressing the current deficit.
"There is no immediate risk to the AAA credit rating," he said.
"As we said last week, we have a stable outlook on the rating, which means a less than one-in-three chance that we'll change the rating over the next couple of years."
In its assessment of the budget last week, S&P observed that, "this budget, along with the nature of current political debate, is consistent with our view of strong political commitment to prudent budget finances."
Mr Michaels says there is so far no indication that the political reaction to the budget indicates a weakening of that commitment.
"There will be some horse trading in the Senate process, as there typically is, but at this point we continue to view the Government as committed to improving its budget outlook over the medium term," he said.
"We think it will make ongoing decisions to ensure that does happen and it will negotiate with the other parties to try to do that."
