Spain loses top credit rating

Spain lost its top triple A credit status today, held since 2001, as agency Moody's cut its rating by a notch to Aa1 from Aaa. Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings already cut their ratings of Spanish government debt in April and May respectively. The cut puts Mooody's ranking on a par with Fitch's AA+ classification, one notch above S&P's AA ranking. The downgrade had been widely expected , after Moody's put the country's debt on review three months ago. It cited the fiscal deterioration in Spain and the challenges faced by the government in reducing the budget deficit at a time when the economy is barely growing.