Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has left its assessment of Ireland unchanged, saying it believed the Irish economy was 'prosperous and open'.
S&P said the outlook for its BBB+ rating was stable, meaning it is unlikely to change in the short-term. This means S&P has decided not to follow another rating agency, Moody's, which last month lowered Ireland's debt to junk status.
S&P said today that the Irish Government had shown the commitment and capacity to stabilise the public finances after the banking crisis and the widening of the budget deficit.
It added that Ireland's competitiveness gains since late 2008 would support 'modest, export-led' growth over the medium term. It warned, however, that prospects for growth over the next couple of years would be held back by high levels of public and private debt. S&P said domestic demand would continue to fall until 2013.
S&P estimated that lower interest rates as a result of the recent EU agreement would save Ireland around €900m. It also predicted that Ireland could go back into the bond markets in late 2013, and that market interest rates on Irish debt would fall to around 6% by then.
It said it did not expect the restructuring of the banking system to lead to any further costs to the State.
