Moody’s holds credit rating

RATINGS agency Moody’s Investors Service upheld the US’s triple-A credit rating and stable outlook yesterday, but it noted potential longer-term threats to the rating. Moody’s said the rating was supported by factors including a strong record of gross domestic product growth and the status of the US dollar and treasuries as the global reserve currency and bond market benchmark. The continued stable outlook signals the rating is not likely to change over the next 12 to 18 months. The ratings agency said a downgrade could occur toward the end of the decade or into the 2020s, however, if fiscal policy remained unchanged and US budget deficits and the debt ratios increased. The agency cited spending on social programmes as a concern. – Reuters