Moody’s downgrades U.S. credit rating to ‘negative’, draws Washington ire
The Hindu
Moody's lowers US outlook to "negative" citing large deficits & debt affordability decline. Biden's admin criticizes move, citing $1T deficit reduction & $2.5T proposal. Treasury yields have risen on fiscal concerns, but investors doubt a downgrade will have material impact. Pressure on Congress to pass funding bill before Nov. 17.
Moody's on Friday lowered its outlook on the U.S. credit rating to "negative" from "stable" citing large fiscal deficits and a decline in debt affordability, a move that drew immediate criticism from President Joe Biden's administration.
The move follows a rating downgrade of the sovereign by another ratings agency, Fitch, this year, which came after months of political brinkmanship around the U.S. debt ceiling.
Federal spending and political polarisation have been a rising concern for investors, contributing to a selloff that took U.S. government bond prices to their lowest levels in 16 years.
"It is hard to disagree with the rationale, with no reasonable expectation for fiscal consolidation any time soon," said Christopher Hodge, chief economist for the U.S. at Natixis. "Deficits will remain large ... and as interest costs take up a larger share of the budget, the debt burden will continue to grow."
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The ratings agency said in a statement that "continued political polarization" in Congress raises the risk that lawmakers will not be able to reach consensus on a fiscal plan to slow the decline in debt affordability."
"Any type of significant policy response that we might be able to see to this declining fiscal strength probably wouldn't happen until 2025 because of the reality of the political calendar next year," William Foster, a senior vice president at Moody's, told Reuters in an interview.
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