All of the credit rating agencies have confirmed Québec's credit rating

QUÉBEC CITY, Aug. 28, 201 /CNW Telbec/ - Minister of Finance Carlos Leitão is satisfied with the decisions announced in recent weeks by the five credit rating agencies that attribute a rating to Québec. "All of the agencies, without exception, have confirmed Québec's credit rating and outlook. They have confirmed the seriousness of our government's plan and the relevance of the initiatives that we promptly adopted when we took power to restore order to public finances and to boost economic recovery," the Minister of Finance noted.

Moody's (July 29), DBRS (August 18), Standard & Poor's (August 19), Japan Credit Rating (August 26) and Fitch (August 27) have published their decisions over the past weeks.

"The key message that I draw from the analyses published by the agencies is that our government's plan to return to a balanced budget in 2015-2016 is credible. However, the credit rating agencies have issued a warning: we must successfully carry out the budgetary restraint that we have adopted. The time for cosmetic changes has passed," Minister Leitão added.

"We know that our plan requires rigorous spending management. For this reason, we have adopted structuring measures to pinpoint the means of realizing the plan and to enhance the competitiveness of the Québec economy, notably through the establishment of the Ongoing Program Review Committee and the Québec Taxation Review Committee. Moreover, in the last Budget, we introduced initiatives to boost economic recovery. The government's efforts overall are focused on restoring Québec's freedom of choice in budgetary and fiscal matters. We cannot delay the restoration of sound public finances," Minister Leitão concluded.

SOURCE: Cabinet du ministre des Finances

Andrée-Lyne Hallé, Press Officer, Office of the Minister of Finance, 418-643-5270, 514-873-5363