US - Fitch credit rating agency downgraded US top credit rating to AA+ - down from AAA - August 1, 2023

[sharon sanders]

Aug 1 (Reuters) - Rating agency Fitch on Tuesday downgraded the U.S. government's top credit rating, a move that drew an angry response from the White House and surprised investors, coming despite the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis two months ago.

Fitch downgraded the United States to AA+ from AAA, citing fiscal deterioration over the next three years and repeated down-the-wire debt ceiling negotiations that threaten the government’s ability to pay its bills.

Fitch had first flagged the possibility of a downgrade in May, then maintained that position in June after the debt ceiling crisis was resolved, saying it intended to finalize the review in the third quarter of this year.

With the downgrade, it becomes the second major rating agency after Standard & Poor’s to strip the United States of its triple-A rating.
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more.... https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/...ts-aaa-credit-rating-by-one-notch-2023-08-01/

 

[Pathfinder]

U.S. stripped of ‘AAA’ rating by Fitch, losing a top-tier rank it held since at least 1994

BY BENJAMIN PURVIS, SIMON KENNEDY AND BLOOMBERG
August 1, 2023 at 4:02 PM CST

Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of US government debt sparked criticism from Washington and Wall Street even amid unease that swollen fiscal deficits risk eventual turbulence in markets, the economy and next year’s presidential election.

Fitch cut the US’s sovereign credit grade one level from AAA to AA+. The move comes just two months after it warned the rating was under threat as lawmakers flirted with default by battling over raising the nation’s debt limit.

The credit grader justified the shift by arguing the country’s finances will likely deteriorate over the next three years given tax cuts, new spending initiatives, economic shocks and repeated political gridlock.
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https://fortune.com/2023/08/01/america-loses-aaa-credit-rating-fitch-united-states-debt/