France's fury as credit rating is cut to AA by Standard & Poor, heaping humiliation on Francois Hollande The move comes two years after the country lost its top-rated AAA status Polls show Hollande as one of the most unpopular French presidents ever France's Socialist government reacted with fury to its credit rating being downgraded yet again because of high taxes, unemployment and public spending. Standard & Poor (S&P) poured humiliation on President Francois Hollande and his ministers on Friday by cutting its AA+ to AA. The move comes almost two years after the country lost its top-rated AAA status. Not so creditworthy: Standard & Poor poured humiliation on President Francois Hollande S&P said it was applying another cut because Socialist reforms showed no prospects of leading to economic growth. It comes soon after polls confirmed Mr Hollande's status as the most unpopular head of state in the history of France, and one of the least effective. An S&P statement reads: "We believe the French government's reforms to taxation, as well as to product, services and labour markets, will not substantially raise France's medium-term growth prospects and that ongoing high unemployment is weakening support for further significant fiscal and structural policy measures." It adds: "Moreover, we see France's fiscal flexibility as constrained by successive governments' moves to increase already-high tax levels, and what we see as the government's inability to significantly reduce total government spending." S&P says it expects unemployment in France to remain above 10 per cent until 2016 and to see net government debt to peak at 86 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015 But Pierre Moscovici, France's finance minister, attacked "the critical and inexact judgements" made by the agency. He added: "During the last 18 months the government has implemented major reforms aimed at improving the French economic situation, restoring its public finances, and its competitiveness." Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that "France's ratings remain among the best in the world," insisting that S&P "does not take into account all the reforms" made by the government. S&P says it expects unemployment in France to remain above 10 per cent until 2016, and to see net government debt to peak at 86 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015. "Current unemployment levels are weakening support for further fiscal and microeconomic reforms, and are depressing longer term growth prospects," it says. Despite the downgrade, S&P attached a 'stable outlook' to France, which implies a less than one-in-three chance that it would change France's rating over the next two years. Mr Hollande has because synonymous with a range of radical left wing measures, including an attempt to increase the top rate of tax to 75 per cent.