Fitch Affirms Triple-A Rating for U.S.

Fitch Ratings Inc. affirmed its Triple-A rating for the U.S., citing the nation’s “unparalleled financing flexibility as the issuer of the world’s pre-eminent reserve currency and benchmark fixed-income asset, and as home to the world’s deepest and most liquid capital markets.”Fitch has a stable outlook for the U.S.

The rating firm said “renewed brinkmanship over the federal debt ceiling is possible in 2015, although its suspension in February 2014 was in a timely manner and in a way that avoided casting uncertainty over the full faith and credit of the U.S.”

In March, Fitch affirmed its rating for the U.S. and removed it from Rating Watch Negative.

On Wednesday, Moody’s Investors Service reiterated its triple-A rating for the U.S. and said the country’s outlook remained stable, but it warned that the rating could be pressured by higher costs for social programs like Medicare and Social Security.

Attention on U.S. debt ratings has remained high since August 2011, when Standard Poor’s Ratings Service, took the unprecedented step of downgrading long-term U.S. debt. In June, S&P reiterated its AA+ rating for the U.S.

Source: The Wall Street Journal