The sovereign credit ratings on Australia benefit from the country's strong institutional settings, its wealthy and resilient economy, and a high degree of monetary and fiscal policy flexibility. The country's high external and household indebtedness, as well as vulnerability to weakening commodity export demand, moderate these strengths. We have affirmed the unsolicited ratings on Australia at 'AAA/A-1+', and the outlook remains stable. The stable outlook is based on our assumption that Australia's historically conservative budgetary policies will remain in place. Rating Action On July 29, 2014, Standard & ... (full story)