Ratings agency Fitch cut Ireland's credit worthiness another notch Wednesday, citing the country's long fight to emerge from record deficits, the toughest bank-bailout effort in Europe and a lagging economy.
The Associated Press reports Fitch's downgrade to A+ from its previous AA- rating follows a similar move earlier this week by rival agency Moody's. However, the wire service notes both Moody's and Standard & Poor's still rate Ireland at the higher grade of AA2 and AA-, respectively.
The downgrade had an immediate negative impact on Ireland's borrowing costs on international bond markets. The interest rate, or yield, that investors demand to buy Ireland's 10-year bonds rose to 6.4% Wednesday for the first time this week.
