Pressure over ratings helps euro countries

The rating agency Standard & Poors threatened on Monday to downgrade the standing of the six euro countries top credit ratings, including Germany and Austria. In Austria the announcement has revived the debate about the introduction of a debt brake, a proposal which the opposition parties the FPÖ and the BZÖ have so far rejected. The pressure from the rating agencies is justified, writes the daily Kurier: "This makes measures to ensure budgetary discipline in the Eurozone all the more urgent. This may mean curbing the sovereignty of all the states, but it doesn't have to. Imposing budgetary discipline already makes sense and will benefit the citizens, particularly the younger generations, because the vast majority of state expenditure is already earmarked for wages and salaries, for pensions and paying back our debts. ... The leeway for future measures for example in the area of education is minimal. The so-called discretionary spending has gone down from 32 percent to 23 percent in the last four years. So we should actually thank the rating agencies. And the opposition should rethink its stance on the debt brake."

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