Fitch Reaffirms Triple-A U.S. Debt Rating

Fitch Ratings affirmed the United States’ Triple-A debt rating Tuesday and called the country’s outlook “stable.”

“The affirmation of the US ‘AAA’ sovereign rating reflects the fact that the key pillars of U.S.’s exceptional creditworthiness remains intact: its pivotal role in the global financial system and the flexible, diversified and wealthy economy that provides its revenue base,” the ratings service said in a statement. “Monetary and exchange rate flexibility further enhances the capacity of the economy to absorb and adjust to ‘shocks.’ ”

The company said U.S. sovereign liabilities, both the dollar and Treasury securities, remain the “global benchmark and accordingly the U.S. credit profile benefits from unparalleled financing flexibility and enhanced debt tolerance, even relative to other large ‘AAA’-rated sovereigns. The dollar’s status as the pre-eminent global reserve currency and depth of the US Treasury market render financing risks minimal and underpin a low cost of fiscal funding.”

However, Fitch noted that despite its “exceptional creditworthiness, the fiscal profile of the US government has deteriorated sharply and is set to become an outlier relative to ‘AAA’ peers. The overall level of general government debt, which includes debt incurred by states and local governments, is estimated by Fitch to reach 94% of GDP this year, the highest amongst ‘AAA’ sovereigns.”