The rating agencies' latest decisions on Italia
From S&P, which confirmed Italia's 'BBB+' rating and raised the outlook from stable to positive to Fitch, which confirmed the 'BBB+' rating with a stable outlook
On Friday, 27 March, the Moody's agency will publish, at closed markets, the new rating on Italy's public debt, following the promotion of last November (Baa2, from Baa3, with stable outlook). Promotion had capped a record year for international ratings of Italian government bonds, punctuated by a series of seven ratings upgrades.
The chain was started in April by S&P Global Ratings (from 'BBB' to 'BBB+' with a stable outlook), and was then continued a month later by Moody's with the upgrade (from stable to positive) of the outlook alongside the Baa3 rating. In September, it was Fitch that decided on the upgrade (from BBB to BBB+ with stable outlook), in a series then completed by the hat-trick composed of Dbrs on 17 October, which restored the 'A' (low) to Italia's palmares, by Kbra (BBB+, stable outlook) the following week, and by Scope on 30 October (BBB+ with positive outlook).
Previous rating: Fitch
The last agency, in chronological order, to comment on Italia was Fitch. On Friday, 13 March, it confirmed the 'BBB+' rating, already assigned on 19 September 2025, with a stable outlook. The rating, it was explained in a note, is supported by a large, diversified and high value-added economy, as well as by the benefits in terms of institutional and financial stability for 'membership of the EU and Eurozone'. The rating, it was further clarified, is 'supported by high levels of wealth and comparatively strong governance indicators'. Strengths 'offset' by 'very high public debt and limited medium-term growth prospects', factors that constrain fiscal flexibility and the ability to reduce debt.
S&P
Even earlier, on Friday 30 January, S&P had confirmed Italia's 'BBB+' rating and raised the outlook from stable to positive. 'Italy's fiscal consolidation,' the rating agency had explained, 'is proceeding according to plan. We expect the deficit to fall slightly to 2.9 per cent of GDP in 2026,' and then to fall further to 2.7 per cent by 2029. And it had added: 'Extraordinary taxes on banks and insurance companies, greater efficiency in VAT collection, and changes to short-term rent taxation will largely offset the cuts in average income tax and the reduction in employers' social security contributions'.
