Sovereign ratings on UK, US, Japan under fire from credit investors

After Greece, Portugal and Spain suffered rating downgrades in April due to escalating fiscal problems, investors ask if the same standards are being applied to advanced economies.

Currency compass

While there is a broad agreement among investors that credit rating agencies were justified in downgrading peripheral European sovereigns last month, investors are questioning why advanced economies such as the UK, the US and Japan – which face mounting fiscal problems of their own – have managed to retain their triple-A ratings.

According to the International Monetary Fund, US debt-to-GDP is predicted to hit 109.7% in 2015, up from 83.2% at the end of last year. Over the same period, the UK’s

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