Moody's affirms Austria's triple-A rating

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)
Moody's Investors Service on Friday affirmed Austria's triple-A rating but maintained a negative outlook
In leaving Austria's sovereign rating at Aaa, Moody's noted that its economy is diversified and competitive and growth performance has been strong in comparison with other European economies "Austria has a good track record of achieving and maintaining low budget deficits....
In 2011, the deficit outturn was better than budgeted and while 2012 will see a temporarily higher deficit outturn, Moody's anticipates that the budget deficit will return to its declining trend from 2013 onwards," said Moody's in a statement
The ratings agency added that while Austria's public debt ratio is higher than some of its other Aaa-rated global peers, it is lower than Aaa-rated Germany, France and the U.K