Ratings agency Moody's on Saturday cut Britain's credit outlook to "negative" from "stable", a day after the country voted to leave the European Union (EU) that resulted in the British pound plunging to a 31-year-low and global stock markets losing $2 trillion.
The agency lowered Britain's long-term issuer and debt ratings, saying the vote to break ties with the EU would have "negative implications for the country's medium-term growth outlook", reported the BBC.
"In Moody's view, the negative effect from lower economic growth will outweigh the fiscal savings from the UK no longer having to contribute to the EU budget," the news channel quoted the ratings agency as saying.
The Guardian reported that Britain paid £12.9 billion, or about £248m a week to the EU last year. The figure is much lower than the £248 million claimed by the "Leave" camp.
The ratings cut is likely to raise borrowing costs for not only the British government, but also for businesses and households.
"The government borrowing rate is normally the benchmark — it is the rate at which other interest rates in the economy are set," Colin Ellis, chief credit officer at Moody's, told the BBC.
Meanwhile, Britain's decision to leave the 28-member EU could even push the country to recession, triggering a wider impact on the world economy.
"Britain's shock vote to leave the EU has unleashed a wave of economic and political uncertainty that likely will drive the UK into recession," The Guardian quoted Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at the thinktank Pantheon Macroeconomics, as saying.
