S&P affirms UK's triple A rating, stable outlook

Standard & Poor's reaffirmed today its top-notch AAA rating for Britain, saying it expects the country's debt burden to peak in 2014. S&P's also said its outlook for Britain's rating was stable.

"We expect economic policy to continue to focus on closing the fiscal gap," the agency said in a statement.

And while it said belt-tightening efforts would "likely drag on economic growth," it said the British economy's ability to absorb these shocks has improved, thanks in part to a large, liquid bond market and debt funded entirely in the domestic currency.