Moody’s downgrades UK debt rating
BRUSSELS: Alphabet’s Google has tweaked concessions aimed at allaying EU antitrust concerns about its $2.1 billion purchase of Fitbit, people familiar with the matter said, putting it on course to secure EU approval for the deal.
The world’s most popular Internet search engine last month offered to restrict the use of Fitbit data for Google ads, facilitate rival makers of wearables seeking to connect to the Android platform and allow third parties’ continued access to Fitbit users’ data with their consent.
Google revised the package after the European Commission received feedback from rivals and consumers, the people said, declining to provide details. The move could also help stave off a possible EU charge sheet setting out specific concerns.
The EU competition enforcer has to date not sought further feedback from the market, indicating the changes have likely passed muster with the Commission.
The EU competition enforcer, which earlier on Friday extended the deadline for its decision to January 8 from December 23 in agreement with Google, declined to comment.
Google reiterated its previous statement, saying that the deal was about devices and not data. “The wearables space is crowded, and we believe the combination of Google and Fitbit’s hardware efforts will increase competition in the sector, benefiting consumers and making the next generation of devices better and more affordable,” Google said.
Concessions so far, however, have failed to appease rivals and customers.
A group of 19 bodies including consumer organisations and privacy advocates in the EU, the United States and Brazil is among the latest critics, issuing a joint letter to demand tough concessions from Google.
LONDON: Ratings agency Moody’s cut the United Kingdom’s sovereign debt rating on Friday, citing a combination of the economic hit from the coronavirus crisis, Brexit and the lack of clear budget plans from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government.
Moody’s lowered the rating by one notch to “Aa3” from “Aa2,” putting Britain on the same level as Belgium and the Czech Republic.
Britain’s economy, the world’s sixth-biggest, shrank by the most among Group of Seven nations in the second quarter and its public debt has leapt to more than £2 billion ($2.58 billion), surpassing 100 per cent of gross domestic product.
Moody’s said Britain’s economic growth had been “meaningfully weaker than expected and is likely to remain so in the future” as existing problems were exacerbated by the decision to leave the European Union.
Britain’s failure to reach a trade deal with the EU that meaningfully replicated the benefits of EU membership would be compounded by the longterm damage likely to be caused by the legacy of the coronavirus pandemic.
Johnson said earlier on Friday that Britain had to prepare for a no-deal Brexit unless the EU changed course and there was currently no point in continuing the negotiations. Britain faces the prospect of tariffs and other trade barriers from January 1 without an agreement.
“Even if there is a trade deal between the UK and EU by the end of 2020, it will likely be narrow in scope and therefore the UK’S exit from the EU will, in Moody’s view, continue to put downward pressure on private investment and economic growth,” Moody’s said.
It also said Britain had lost some of the budgetary discipline of previous governments and its fiscal policy had become “less predictable and effective,” meaning its high debt levels were unlikely to come down quickly.
“The UK effectively has no fiscal policy anchor,” it said. The agency revised the outlook on the country’s sovereign debt to “stable” from “negative,” reflecting its expectation that the UK’S debt would likely stabilise.