Moody’s Warns Spain Again

Credit rating agency Moody’s warned that Spain’s regions won’t meet their fiscal deficit targets. Missing these targets poses a threat for the whole country as well. EUR/USD shrugs it off, as all eyes are on the Greek crisis.

Missing the deficits is mostly due to overspending towards the elections held on May 22nd, but it appears also in Catalonia, where elections were held back in November, and regional autonomous government is finding it hard to balance itself.

Here is the explicit warning for the whole country:

Therefore, in the absence of credible commitments by the regions to take the steps needed to achieve sustainable improvements in their fiscal positions, we believe the central government will find it very hard to achieve its overall fiscal targets. This is likely to exert further downward pressure not only on the ratings of the fiscally weak regions but also on the sovereign’s rating as it risks derailing the country’s fiscal consolidation plan.

The focus of euro traders remains on Greece. The critical first vote on the new austerity measures is scheduled for 12:00 GMT.

For more on EUR/USD, see the euro to dollar forecast.