Italy’s top public finance watchdog is investigating cuts that were made to Rome’s sovereign debt ratings in 2011 and 2012<br /><br />The ratings agencies Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Investor Service downgraded Italy’s creditworthiness, which prosecutors from the Corte dei Conti audit body called unjustified.<br /><br />One reason – they said – was that the agencies had not taken into account Italy’s rich cultural history and the effect that would have on the economy.<br /><br />The downgrades came during the depths of the eurozone debt crisis and Italy said they had cost the state over 117 billion euros.<br /><br />Two of the three agencies said the allegations were “without merit.”
