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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

S&P issues warning on U.S. government credit rating



Source: (AHN) Reporter: Linda Young
Location: Washington, DC, United States
Published: April 19, 2011 11:27 am EDT


Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Ratings Service has rattled financial markets by changing its outlook for U.S. government debt from "stable" to "negative" over concerns that lawmakers might not reach an agreement on dealing with the budget deficit.

The news caused the U.S. dollar to drop in value against the euro and oil prices fell. In New York the S&P 500 stock index declined while in Europe the main French, German and United Kingdom stock indexes also fell.

S&P's move increases the likelihood that it might downgrade the U.S.'s AAA rating within two years unless more is done to bring down government debt.

As one of the three major ratings agencies, if S&P lowers the U.S. credit rating it would make it harder and more expensive for the nation to borrow money.

In changing its outlook to negative, S&P officials said the agency views the U.S. economy as being diverse with a sound monetary policy, but that a downgrade of the AAA rating is possible if congressional lawmakers and the Obama administration are unable to agree on a viable plan to reduce the nation's deficit.

U.S. Treasury officials did not agree with S&P's move, saying they have a better ability to deal with the national debt than the ratings agency estimated.


Source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90045495?S%26P%20issues%20warning%20on%20U.S.%20government%20credit%20rating#ixzz1JzcMvq4d

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