U.S. Sovereign Debt Rating Close to “Junk”
by Weiss Ratings | July 14, 2011
“Weiss Ratings is very close to downgrading the sovereign debt rating of the United States one more notch to a ‘C –’, which will put it just one notch above junk,” Martin Weiss, President of Weiss Ratings told CNBC on Wednesday.
“In April, Weiss Ratings gave the U.S. sovereign debt rating a ‘C’. A ‘C’ is equivalent to approximately a triple-B on the S&P, Moody’s and Fitch scales. Its two notches above junk, Weiss told CNBC in May. Weiss added that while the rating was weak, the debt situation was not in a danger zone that should trigger panic.
In yesterday’s interview with CNBC, Weiss responded to Moody’s Rating Agency placing their U.S. triple-A rating on review for a downgrade in the coming weeks on mounting concern that legislators will fail to raise the debt limit in time to avert potentially drastic effects.
The U.S. government is deadlocked in negotiations to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by August 2 before a potential default. President Obama announced on Tuesday, that failure to increase the debt ceiling would jeopardize payments to Social Security and Veteran’s benefit recipients.
Weiss believes a downgrade by the large rating agencies is long overdue, noting that the top-notch standard assigned to the U.S. is unfair to investors and savers as they are not being compensated for the level of risk they are taking.
“The U.S. has a huge debt load compared to most other countries,” he said. “And, has a very unstable economy over the last 10 years compared to most other countries.” The U.S. ratio of debt-to-gross domestic product is currently over 90 percent.
“The only thing that’s really holding up the U.S. debt rating is a widespread international acceptance for U.S. Treasury securities and nice strong liquid market. But even that might be coming into question,” according to Weiss.
Weiss is hopeful that a last minute deal will fend off a potential crisis for U.S. and world markets. He pointed out that three years ago the legislature’s failure to pass a bailout package sent markets into a tailspin, and forced Congress to sign off on it.
He said, “We might see a similar scenario here in the debt ceiling debate, a failure at first and then a desperate deal in the thirteenth hour to rescue the situation at the last minute.”
Based on the government’s continued failure to agree on terms for raising the U.S. debt ceiling and the looming deadline, Weiss Ratings is reviewing its current ‘C’, rating signaling consumers that a ‘C-’ rating might be a fairer assessment under the circumstances.
Read the CNBC article.
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