A Budget-day borrowing blow for Chancellor George Osborne yesterday underlined the scale of his deficit-cutting task despite slightly better news on growth from his independent forecaster.

The world's biggest credit ratings agencies came under heavy fire yesterday when they repeatedly refused to apologise to MPs for the debacle over toxic mortgage-backed securities which triggered the financial crisis.

The world's biggest credit ratings agencies came under heavy fire yesterday, as they repeatedly refused to apologise to MPs for the debacle over the toxic mortgage-backed securities that triggered the global financial crisis.

Outlook Did George Osborne just get a little bit of breathing room? Yesterday's public sector borrowing figures contained some welcome news for the Chancellor. January is traditionally a month in which the Government pays back a bit of what it owes, but the £7.75bn returned to creditors this time around was better than most forecasters had expected and well ahead of the £5.2bn surplus recorded in January 2011.

Outlook The prize for the stupidest thing said about banks yesterday – it was a cut-throat day in an always competitive field – came from Moody's.

The fact that the UK has so far escaped any hint of a credit downgrade has long been cited by the Coalition to support its preferred combination of spending cuts and tax rises to deal with the budget deficit. For goodness sake stop complaining about your hospital closing: Britain's still a AAA nation (Aa1 or somesuch in Moody's speak).

The shadow Chancellor claims that Moody's decision to place Britain's triple-A credit rating on "negative outlook" proves that the Government is cutting too far, too fast. Meanwhile, George Osborne insists that the agency's warning shot – suggesting a one-in-three chance of a downgrade to come – is a "reality check" that reinforces his commitment to cutting national debt.

Outlook The fact that the UK has so far escaped any hint of a credit downgrade has long been cited by the Coalition to support its preferred combination of spending cuts and tax rises to deal with the budget deficit. For goodness sake stop complaining about your hospital closing: Britain's still a AAA nation (Aa1 or somesuch in Moody's speak).

Chancellor George Osborne defended the Government's austerity package today after Britain was threatened with the loss of its AAA credit rating amid fears over weaker growth prospects and potential shocks from the eurozone crisis.

Moody's says euro crisis raises questions over Government's ability to cut national debt

Fitch downgraded Hungary's credit rating to junk status on Friday, citing a standoff between the government and international lenders like the IMF and the European Union over possible rescue loans.

The credit ratings agency Moody's last night warned Britain faces "formidable and rising challenges" to its treasured AAA status, but said it was not yet considering a downgrade.

An influential credit ratings agency today said the UK was still worthy of its AAA rating but warned the eurozone debt crisis has left it less likely to cope with future shocks.

Lloyds Banking Group was today warned its debt rating could be cut due to the sick leave of chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio.