TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th June, 2020) Fitch Ratings said in a statement on Wednesday that it has stripped Canada of its AAA debt rating citing a "deterioration of public finances" amid the economic turmoil sparked by the measures implemented to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"Fitch Ratings has downgraded Canada's Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'AA+' from 'AAA'," the statement said.
Fitch said the rating outlook is stable and Canada's banking system, already assigned a negative rating and sector outlook, would be unaffected by the downgrade.
The company said it expects Canada's consolidated gross general government debt to GDP ratio to rise to 115.1 percent this year - up more than 30 percent from 88.3 percent of GDP in 2019 - before stabilizing in the neighborhood of 120 percent in the years 2022-2024.
Fitch's outlook largely mirrors what Canadian officials have said in recent weeks.
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer said it estimates Canada's deficit will increase to $188 billion in fiscal year 2020-2021 to 12.7 percent of GDP - the largest on record.
