There has been no change for Portugal from Standard & Poor's which has kept its debt rating at BB+, and the outlook as 'stable.'
The agency forecasts a decelerating economic recovery with the government committed to policies that support a better balance in the public accounts.
"We believe that the recovery of the Portuguese economy will decelerate in 2016, mainly due to a slowdown in exports and investment, which increases the challenges to Portuguese banks," said a report on Portugal released this Friday.
"The 'stable' outlook balances our projections of a gradual fiscal consolidation in the next two years, the risks of a weaker external growth environment, a more prolonged reduction in private sector debt, risks in the financial sector and potential shifts in economic and budgetary policy," reads the S&P report.
The only agency that rates Portugal as anything other than ‘junk’ is the Canadian company DBRS whose goodwill is the only thing that currently allows Portuguese debt to be used as collateral for loans from the European Central Bank. DBRS will issue an update on October 21st which is awaited with some concern as the economy slows.
S&P says it will downgrade the Portuguese debt rating if there is "a continued sharp weakening of economic growth" or "if the government adopts policies that can undermine Portugal’s access to international financial markets."
Another condition that could lead to a reduction in the S&P rating would be if "the government's fiscal position deviated considerably."
