USA Keeps AAA Rating from Fitch

Fitch Ratings – one of the biggest providers of credit ratings for debt – affirmed its pristine AAA rating for the United States of America Monday.  Getting the top rating from Fitch is a huge vote of confidence for the credit worthiness of the US of A. The U.S.’ longstanding gold-standard reputation as being “risk free” came into serious question in August 2011 when Standard & Poor’s took its rating on U.S. federal debt to AA+ from AAA. S&P is another of the biggest credit ratings agencies. S&P’s rating remains at AA+, one-notch below AAA.

Fitch didn’t just reaffirm the USA as a AAA credit, but also said the outlook is “stable.” That word is extremely important with bond investors who aren’t just concerned about a creditors current financial situation, but more importantly, how it looks in the future. Fitch put a “negative” outlook on U.S. debt in November 2011.

The strong dollar was a part of Fitch’s rating. “The U.S.’ AAA rating is underpinned by the sovereign’s unparalleled financing flexibility as the issuers of the world’s pre-eminent reserve currency,” according to the Fitch rating note.  Add to that – the federal government’s deficit is expected to fall in 2015 and 2016 from the 2.8% of gross domestic product last year, Fitch says.

USA Today

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