Crumbling titan: US to avoid ‘fiscal cliff’, risks remain
Rating agency Standard & Poor affirmed the AA-plus rating of the world’s biggest economy
NEW YORK:
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said on Friday that it expects US lawmakers to set aside their differences to prevent a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts from hurting the economy in early 2013. The rating agency affirmed the AA-plus rating of the world’s biggest economy but cautioned that its outlook remains negative. The affirmation of the rating restarts the six- to 24-month period in which the agency could again cut the US’s rating. “One thing we do expect Republicans and Democrats to agree on—given an unemployment rate of about 8% and continued risks to the US economic recovery—is avoiding sudden fiscal adjustment,” the agency said in a statement. S&P said the US economy still faces “significant” risks, adding that “we believe the risk of returning to recession in the US is about 20%.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2012.
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said on Friday that it expects US lawmakers to set aside their differences to prevent a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts from hurting the economy in early 2013. The rating agency affirmed the AA-plus rating of the world’s biggest economy but cautioned that its outlook remains negative. The affirmation of the rating restarts the six- to 24-month period in which the agency could again cut the US’s rating. “One thing we do expect Republicans and Democrats to agree on—given an unemployment rate of about 8% and continued risks to the US economic recovery—is avoiding sudden fiscal adjustment,” the agency said in a statement. S&P said the US economy still faces “significant” risks, adding that “we believe the risk of returning to recession in the US is about 20%.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2012.