(Bloomberg) -- A failure of some euro-area countries to repair public finances is jeopardizing their credit status, according to Scope Ratings, which singled out France and Belgium for particular scrutiny.

The company issued a report on Tuesday that observed how fiscal pressures are increasing against a backdrop of tepid growth and higher borrowing costs. France, Italy, Germany and Spain will together pay almost €170 billion ($181 billion) more interest in 2028 than they did in 2020, according to its calculations.

“We are concerned about heavily indebted countries with large primary deficits, and governments operating in a highly fragmented political environments and struggling to implement reforms,” analyst Alvise Lennkh-Yunus wrote.

Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus were lauded for achieving changes, but others didn’t use the years of loose monetary policy as effectively, he said. 

“France and Belgium, both of which we rate with a negative outlook, risk failing to fully acknowledge their financial constraints,” Lennkh-Yunus observed. “Government plans that only aim to stabilize public debt at current elevated ratios imply that debt will continue to rise whenever the next crisis emerges.”

The comments follow the International Monetary Fund’s forecasts last week that showed the borrowing trajectory for both Italy and France is now set to rise. Most striking was Belgium’s debt, which will jump by 10 percentage points in just half a decade, according to the predictions.

The coming weeks feature some major assessments of the euro zone’s biggest borrowers. 

On France’s calendar for this Friday are possible ratings announcements by Moody’s and Fitch Ratings. Scope may issue a report a week later, while S&P Ratings is slated for May 31.

Italy, whose BBB score at S&P remains intact after a review concluded last week, will now run the gauntlet of a potential announcement by Fitch also scheduled for May 3, and by Moody’s on May 31. 

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