Unlike the US, [Standard & Poors] sees Ireland as having the political consensus and fiscal strategy to reduce the deficit. The agency views the targets as ambitious but if growth were to return more quickly it would even consider raising the rating. In the Irish case, the market reaction has tallied with the view of the agency. In the run-up to the EU summit in Brussels the 10-year yield on Irish government bonds was over 14 per cent. These yields have fallen almost every day since and on Monday they fell below 10 per cent for the first time since April. The agency sees this improvement continuing and forecasts yields of 6 per cent or lower by 2013.