XPost: soc.culture.canada, can.general, can.politics   
   XPost: soc.culture.quebec   
   From: abc@a123.ca   
      
   Moody’s deems Canada ‘better than most other top-rated sovereigns’   
      
   Barbara Shecter | Aug 16, 2012   
      
   Rogerio Barbosa/AFP/Getty Images In a glowing report released Thursday,   
   Moody's Investors Service says Canada's triple-A rating is supported by   
   the country's economic performance and government financial position that   
   have held up to the effects of the global recession "better than most   
   other top-rated sovereigns."   
      
      
   Canada might want to ignore recent criticism about the work of credit   
   ratings agencies.   
      
   In a glowing report released Thursday, Moody’s Investors Service says   
   Canada’s triple-A rating is supported by the country’s economic   
   performance and government financial position that have held up to the   
   effects of the global recession “better than most other top-rated   
   sovereigns.”   
      
   Furthermore, Moody’s says in the annual report out of the New York,   
   “Canada did not experience a financial crisis such as the one that   
   affected the U.S. and a number of European countries.”   
      
   The ratings agency notes that the recession did reverse an earlier   
   improvement in debt ratios, but reasons that they are improving and did   
   not deteriorate as much as in most other triple-A-rated countries.   
      
   On the housing market, which, along with high household debt, is raising   
   concerns in some quarters, Moody’s “considers risk … to be manageable in   
   terms of its potential effect on federal finances.”   
      
   Related   
   Angela Merkel touts Canada as example for crisis-ridden eurozone   
      
   Moody’s rated Canada’s economic resiliency and government financial   
   strength as “very high” and said the country has a “low susceptibility to   
   event risk.”   
      
   The economy’s resiliency is demonstrated by very high per capita income,   
   the large scale of the economy, and its diversity, featuring natural   
   resource industries, a competitive manufacturing sector, and a well-   
   developed financial and real estate market, the ratings agency said.   
      
   Canada ranks 11th out of 113 sovereigns rated by Moody’s in terms of the   
   size of its economy and 14th out of 109 countries in terms of its GDP per   
   capita.   
      
   “On the public finance front, Canada’s ratios of general government debt   
   to GDP and to revenue moved significantly downward over the decade   
   through 2008,” says the Moody’s report. “In facing the global crisis, the   
   federal government’s balance sheet started from a strong position.”   
      
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