Moody’s: ‘Brexit’ may not see UK rating cut

Britain may not face a credit rating downgrade if it votes to leave the EU in a referendum due by the end of 2017, the lead UK analyst at ratings agency Moody’s said in an interview yesterday.

Prime minister David Cameron, who has promised to renegotiate Britain’s EU ties ahead of the vote, favours staying in a reformed EU but has said he rules nothing out if he cannot get the changes he wants.

Fellow rating agency Standard & Poor’s has already lowered the outlook for Britain’s triple-A rating due to the risks to economic growth posed by the referendum.