Debt downgrade would cost France €5 bln a year

A downgrade of France's top-notch triple-A credit rating would cost the country 5 bln euros ($7.1 bln) per year, French Budget Minister Valerie Pecresse said on Saturday.
Three major credit rating agencies have reiterated their top marks for Frence's government debt in the wake of speculation that the country could be next on the list for a debt downgrade after the United States lost its triple-A score.
"The triple A… if we lost it then immediately we would borrow more expensively, our interest rates would rise and it would cost us nearly 5 bln euros per year," Pecresse told reporters at a summer meeting of the ruling UMP party.
"Five billion euros per year is the budget of the Justice Ministry … So I really think that we need to be careful," she added.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right government presented its latest round of deficit-cutting measures in August, promising to reduce the shortfall by 12 bln euros in 2011 and 2012, mostly by ending tax exemptions and imposing a tax on the super-rich.