No downgrade for Spain's debt

Spain won more breathing space from international investors, as it escaped having its debt cut to junk by a leading credit rating agency yesterday.

Moody's kept its sovereign rating on Spain one notch above speculative status, sending Madrid's benchmark 10-year borrowing costs to a six-month low of 5.47 per cent at one point. The ratings agency resisted the downgrade because it believes Spain should continue to be able to access debt markets, thanks to the austerity measures of Mariano Rajoy's government and the European Central Bank's programme of bond buying.