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Old populations threaten ratings
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has warned it may downgrade “a number of highly rated” G20 countries from 2015 if their governments fail to enact reforms to curb rising healthcare spending and other costs related to ageing populations. Developed nations in Europe, as well as Japan and the US, are likely to suffer the largest deterioration in their public finances in the next four decades as more elderly people strain social safety nets, S&P said in a report. If no steps are taken to control costs – such as reducing the generosity of healthcare schemes – the credit agency predicts no G20 nations will manage to retain their triple-A ratings into the 2030s, though such a fate can be avoided by some.