The United States, Germany and other major economies have moved "substantially" closer to losing their top-notch credit ratings and can not depend solely on economic growth to save them, a report warned on Monday.

The ratings of the Aaa governments -- which also include Britain, France, Spain and the Nordic countries -- are currently "stable," Moody's Investor Service wrote in the report. But, it added, "their 'distance-to-downgrade' has in all cases substantially diminished."

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