First Time Ever: US loses stellar AAA rating

Standard & Poor (S&P) cut the US credit rating for the first time in history

WASHINGTON: Standard & Poor (S&P) cut the US credit rating for the first time in history late Friday, saying the country’s politicians were increasingly unable to come to grips with its massive fiscal deficit and debt load. S&P cut the US rating from its top-flight triple-A one notch to AA+, and added a negative outlook, saying there was a chance it could be downgraded again within two years if progress is not made in cutting the huge government budget gap. It said the “political brinksmanship” of recent months shows that governance in the country is becoming “less stable, less effective, and less predictable,” raising the risks that one day it might not honour its debt.





Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2011.