Fitch joins the party. Cuts several Sovereigns.

As we have been arguing over the past weeks, this is a war between the Rating Agencies and the Central Planners. Fitch is now joining S&P in downgrading Europe. In the other corner, we have Bernanke and his friends. Let’s see how this plays out. From Fitch;

The rating actions on the long-term (LT) and short-term (ST) Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) are as follows:

-Belgium LT IDR downgraded to ‘AA’ from ‘AA+’; Negative Outlook; ST IDR affirmed at ‘F1+’
-Cyprus LT IDR downgraded to ‘BBB-’ from ‘BBB’; Negative Outlook; ST IDR affirmed at ‘F3′
-Ireland LT IDR affirmed at ‘BBB+’; Negative Outlook; ST IDR affirmed at ‘F2′
-Italy LT IDR downgraded to ‘A-’ from ‘A+’; Negative Outlook; ST IDR downgraded to ‘F2′ from ‘F1′
-Slovenia LT IDR downgraded to ‘A’ from ‘AA-’; Negative Outlook; ST IDR downgraded to ‘F1′ from ‘F1+’
- Spain LT IDR downgraded ‘A’ from ‘AA-’; Negative Outlook; ST IDR downgraded to ‘F1′ from ‘F1+’

All the ratings have been removed from RWN, with the Negative Outlook on all six countries indicating a slightly greater than 50% chance of a downgrade over a two-year time horizon. The eurozone ‘AAA’ country ceiling has been affirmed for all six sovereigns. All senior unsecured issues of the six countries are affirmed in line with the new rating levels above. The ratings of guaranteed issuance by National Asset Management Ltd. are affirmed at ‘BBB+’ and ‘F2′ in line with the Irish IDRs. (Full report here).