Italy remains at two levels above junk at S&P Global Ratings after Giorgia Meloni’s government weathered the first of several possible assessments on its looser deficit prospects.
This result is good news for the populist coalition, whose recently passed budget law and expanded deficit forecasts have alarmed some investors, causing the spread between Italian and German 10-year bonds to widen.
The rating is two notches above junk, one higher than the assessment of Moody’s Investors Service. That company is scheduled to release its own view on Nov. 17, one in a series by rivals that will intensify scrutiny on the country’s public finances.