One by One, Europe’s Safest Government Bonds Fall From Grace
The Chambre des Representants de Belgique building in Brussels, Belgium.
Photographer: Simon Wolfhart/Bloomberg
The traditional hierarchy of debt in Europe is facing its latest shake-up as worsening public finances in Belgium threaten to turn some of the region’s once-safest bonds into a risky bet.
Belgium is undergoing fresh scrutiny following Moody’s Ratings downgrade last week, with S&P Global Ratings set to review its sovereign rating later Friday. Strategists at Commerzbank AG and Societe Generale SA expect S&P to also downgrade, while money managers at Candriam and Mediolanum say the situation shows why they prefer to own securities elsewhere in Europe such as Spain.