NEW YORK — Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday that the U.S. government’s “Aaa” rating is stable despite the nation’s swelling debt.
A credit rating of “Aaa” is the highest possible. It means the agency sees very little risk of the government defaulting on its debt.
Last week, Standard & Poor’s, another ratings agency, raised worries that the U.S. could lose its “AAA” rating after it warned Britain was at risk for a downgrade. The British and U.S. governments have had their central banks inject billions into their economies by buying bank assets.
The warning sent the dollar and Treasury prices tumbling last week because a downgrade would increase borrowing costs and hurt the government’s economic-stimulus efforts.
But Moody’s did not rule out a downgrade. Steven Hess, Moody’s vice president, said that while Washington’s debt rating is stable, a reassessment of the economy and the federal debt could put “negative pressure on the rating in the future.”
