Monday, April 18, 2011

Bloomberg on S&P

    “The U.S. is the only large AAA rated country that saw its

debt rise during the crisis that until recently had no plan that

would reverse the trend, Steven Hess, senior credit officer at

Moody’s, said last week.”

 

Wire: BLOOMBERG News (BN) Date: Apr 18 2011  8:36:30

Standard & Poor’s Puts ‘Negative’ Outlook on U.S. AAA (1)

 

By Robert Burgess

     April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Standard & Poor’s put a

“negative” outlook on the U.S. AAA credit rating, citing

rising budget deficits and debt.

     “We believe there is a material risk that U.S. policy

makers might not reach an agreement on how to address medium-and

long-term budgetary challenges by 2013,” New York-based S&P

said in a report today. “If an agreement is not reached and

meaningful implementation does not begin by then, this would in

our view render the U.S. fiscal profile meaningfully weaker than

that of peer ‘AAA’ sovereigns.”

     Under President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget,

released in February, the total debt subject to the ceiling

would be $20.8 trillion in 2016. The plan House Republicans

approved April 15, written by Budget Committee Chairman Paul

Ryan, would need a debt ceiling of at least $19.5 trillion,

according to data compiled by Bloomberg Government.

     Treasuries fell, reversing earlier gains, after S&P lowered

its outlook to negative from stable. The benchmark 10-year note

yielded as much as 3.45 percent in New York before trading

little changed at 3.43 percent. The dollar dropped 0.7 percent

to 82.58 yen and pared its gain versus the euro. The S&P 500

Index fell 1.5 percent.

     The Treasury Department projected that the government may

reach the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling limit as soon as mid-May

and run out of options for avoiding default by early July.

     Last week, Moody’s Investors Service said Obama’s plan to

cut $4 trillion in cumulative deficits within 12 years may be a

“positive” for the nation’s credit quality and mark a reversal

in the budget debate.

     The U.S. is the only large AAA rated country that saw its

debt rise during the crisis that until recently had no plan that

would reverse the trend, Steven Hess, senior credit officer at

Moody’s, said last week.

 

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