S&P affirms Ireland's rating

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's has affirmed the sovereign credit ratings on Ireland and said the outlook on the ratings is stable.

S&P currently has Ireland rated at 'BBB+/A-2'.

The agency said the rating reflected its view of the Government's commitment and capacity to stabilise public finances.

"We believe that Ireland's creditworthiness is sustained by a strong political consensus in favor of fiscal consolidation, which should reduce the general government deficit to around 3 per cent of GDP by 2015. We also view Ireland's competitiveness gains since late 2008 and open economy as being supportive of modest, export-led economic growth over the medium term," S&P said in a statement.

"In our opinion, the Irish government's fiscal strategy should be capable of putting the public finances on a more sustainable path."

In July, Moody's downgraded Ireland's credit rating from "Baa3" to "Ba1. Ba1 is a speculative grade rating, frequently described in market commentary as "junk".

Moody's gave as its main reason for the downgrade the growing likelihood of the EU imposing losses on sovereign bondholders of weak countries.

The agency also cited the weakness of the Irish economy and the risks of contagion effects of a "disorderly debt restructuring by Greece".