Rest of The World Is So Nervous: Moody’s Strips U.K.’s Coveted AAA Rating, Chancellor Warned On Inflation, Euro Crisis Returns – In Italy, Spain &Cyprus, A ‘Steepening Downturn’ Across The Euro Area, And Berlusconi Is Coming Back!

Chancellor warned on inflation as rating cut sparks new sterling fears

Inflation could rise further as an indirect consequence of Moody’s downgrade of the British economy on Friday, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has warned.

Andrew Sentance, who served on the Bank’s rate-setting committee until May 2011, cautioned that the cut to the UK’s credit rating would add to the existing “downward pressures on sterling”.

The downgrade stripped the UK of its prize AAA credit rating amid worries about weak growth and rising debt. The rating was lowered one notch to AA1, with the outlook on the country’s debt improving to stable from negative. Sterling fell in the last half- hour of trading in New York on Friday night, dropping 0.6pc to $1.5163.

“This of itself won’t increase inflation,” Mr Sentance told The Sunday Telegraph. “But it will add to pressure on the pound, which has already fallen a long way in the space of six weeks – which is not going to help inflation.

It was in autumn 2011: The euro crisis was getting worse and worse – and slowly spreading from smaller economies, like Greece and Portugal, to larger players, like Spain, and even Italy.

Especially controversial was Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, who was ridiculed for his positions and lack of action. As a result, his country’s standing reached a new low. But then there was the ‘great relief’ of November 12 when Berlusconi stepped down. His job was taken over by Mario Monit – an economics professor, who, with his plans to get the budget back in order, won a lot of sympathy and trust, not just for Italy, but for the euro currency users as a whole.