The French Finance Minister, Francois Baroin, has described the economic situation in the UK as being “very worrying”. This comment came after the chairman of France’s central bank, Christian Noyer, said that credit ratings agencies should downgrade Britain’s credit rating before France’s, as he believes the UK economy is weaker.

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) (Public, NYSE:MHP), the US rating agency, has recently cautioned France that its rating could be lowered because of the eurozone debt crisis and downturn. But Mr Noyer told French newspaper Le Telegramme that any downgrade should start with Britain, because it has higher deficits, higher inflation and lower economic growth than France.

The UK wasn’t identified as a credit risk by S&P in its latest report. France meanwhile has had its economic outlook revised by another ratings agency – Fitch (Public, EPA:FIM) has changed its outlook on the nation from “stable” to “negative”. However, the agency has also affirmed the country’s top notch AAA rating.

Francois Baroin meanwhile, also mocked Britain’s decision not to back a new EU fiscal pact, while speaking in the French parliament yesterday. Nick Clegg, the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, told French PM Francois Fillon today that comments from some in France’s government, regarding the UK economy, “were simply unacceptable”.

The UK government also said that remarks coming from France were “not helpful in any way”. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) head Christine Lagarde meanwhile, stated on Thursday that the worldwide economic outlook remains “gloomy”, and that no nation is immune from increasing risks.

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