NEW YORK ― Germany can breathe a little easier over the Greek debt crisis.
Standard & Poor’s affirmed the country’s AAA credit rating on Friday and called its outlook stable.
“In our view, Germany has a highly diversified and competitive economy with a demonstrated ability to absorb large economic and financial shocks,” the Manhattan-based ratings agency said in a statement to The Huffington Post.
By contrast, S&P downgraded Greece’s credit rating to CCC- late last month and said the country has a 50 percent chance of ditching the euro as a currency.
Germany’s economy expanded by 1.6 percent last year, and S&P analysts forecast growth to accelerate to 2 percent this year.
Still, tumult in the eurozone ― fueled by both Greece’s default on a loan payment and the simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine ― could destabilize Germany’s otherwise solid economic growth.
“While the Russia-Ukraine and Greece crises have so far had a limited impact on the German economy, a renewed and deeper eurozone crisis would hit Germany’s economy more strongly through a number of channels,” S&P said. “However, we currently do not consider this a likely scenario.”