Britain maintains AAA rating

Britain has enjoyed a rare piece of good economic news at the end of a bad week as ratings agency Standard and Poors confirmed it was maintaining Britain's AAA rating.

Sustaining the rating at this level is a policy that has been pursued by the government to keep its borrowing costs down to help trim the deficit, as well as ensuring that interest rates can stay low.

In the latter case, this can help consumers worried about repossession by preventing their mortgage repayments from soaring.

However, with figures last week confirming the economy is still in recession, many will find they are struggling with low pay or unemployment, which could increase the chances of them being unable to stay in their homes.

Those in such a situation may benefit from receiving extra help and advice on how to avoid such a fate.

Standard and Poors praised Britain for having a "wealthy and diverse economy, fiscal and monetary policy flexibility and adaptable product and labour markets".
 
It believes the UK will come out of recession in the second half of this year and then gradually improve.

Chancellor George Osborne welcomed the verdict, stating: "This is a reminder that despite the economic problems we face, the world has confidence that we are dealing with them."

He noted that inflation, the public borrowing deficit and unemployment have all been falling, while also hailing the creation of more private sector jobs as evidence that the economy is being rebalanced.

Those less optimistic about the economy include Shroeder's Asset Management.

Last week, its European economist Azad Zangana predicted the economy would come out of recession in the third quarter of 2012 due to the financial boost of the Olympics, but would contract again in 2013 due to the underlying weaknesses of the economy coming to the fore again.

By James Francis