WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama isn’t worried that the massive federal deficit could cost the U.S. government its triple-A credit rating, the White House said Friday.
“No, we’re not concerned about a change in our credit rating,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Asked to clarify if that meant the White House doesn’t think the government’s ratings will be downgraded, Gibbs said, “I don’t believe they will be.”
Speculation about the United States’ sovereign credit rating surfaced this week after Standard & Poor’s changed its outlook for the U.K.’s credit rating to negative. Fears about the U.S.’s rating and heavy sales of government debt pushed U.S. Treasury prices lower Friday.
The U.S. budget deficit is expected to climb to $1.841 trillion this fiscal year, shattering all previous records and reaching nearly 13 percent of gross domestic product.
Gibbs said Obama is focused on pulling the economy out of recession and creating jobs, the best way in the short term to cope with the deficit. In the medium and long term, he said, the focus will turn to restoring the country’s fiscal position.
“I think the president recognizes we have to make progress to get our fiscal house in order, to get . . . Congress and the executive branch back on a pay-as-you-go system,” Gibbs said.
Despite the White House’s lack of concern, former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker has warned that without corrective fiscal action, the U.S. could lose its top rating status.
