Moody's downgrades Ireland credit rating

Moody's has downgraded Ireland's sovereign government bond rating to Aa2 from Aa1.

The ratings agency says it has been driven by the country's weakening financial position and lower growth expectations. "Today's downgrade is primarily driven by the Irish Government's gradual, but significant loss of financial strength, as reflected by its deteriorating debt affordability," says Dietmar Hornung, Moody's senior credit officer and lead analyst for Ireland. Moody's says it expects Irish economic growth to be below its historical trend over the next three to five years. Banking and real estate, the engines of growth in the years preceding the country's crisis, would n...