London: The continuing crisis in the euro zone is also posing a threat to Britain's top debt rating as further shocks to the country's economy could derail the government's efforts to balance the budget, ratings agency Moody's said on Tuesday.
"The currently stable outlook on the UK government's Aaa rating depends in part on the assumption that the government will stay on track with its fiscal consolidation programme," Moody's said in its annual credit report on the country.
Finance minister George Osborne had to propose further austerity measures beyond the previously planned five-year time horizon in his autumn statement as weak growth is hitting his efforts to protect the country's top-credit rating by erasing the country's budget deficit of nearly 10 per cent.
Moody's stressed that its report was an annual update to markets and did not constitute a rating action.
"However, any additional weakening in the macroeconomic outlook or a need to support the banking system could temporarily set back the government's fiscal consolidation efforts," it added.
"As a result, the outlook on the rating is likely to be sensitive to future developments in the euro area's debt crisis, even though the UK is not a member of the monetary union," it said.
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