China property market a sovereign rating concern-Fitch

HONG KONG Nov 3 (Reuters) - China's red-hot property market is a concern for its sovereign credit rating because of the threat of worsening asset quality in the banking system, Fitch Ratings analyst James McCormack said on Tuesday.

"China is the most obvious area of concern," McCormack said in a Reuters chat room forum. "The China property issue raises some concerns with respect to asset quality in the banks. The banking system is a sovereign rating weakness. Clearly banks in any country with a property bubble would be affected, but banks in China are, as noted, already a weakness."

He also said he expected the Philippines' budget deficits to overshoot this year and next, and that means the country's debt levels "will deviate further from the rating peer group." (Reporting by Eric Burroughs and Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)