Fitch affirms United States' ratings at 'AA+', outlook 'stable'

[March 02, 2024]  (Reuters) -Credit ratings agency Fitch on Friday affirmed United States' long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating at "AA+" with a "stable" outlook. 

Fitch forecast the country's gross domestic product growth to slow in 2024, despite its economy proving resilient in the face of higher interest rates.  

The Manhattan skyline is pictured from the Summit at One Vanderbilt observatory in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

The U.S. economy grew by 2.5% in 2023, partly reflecting the renewed fiscal policy easing as highlighted by the large general government (GG) deficit in 2023.

Fitch estimated that the GG deficit had reached 8.8% of GDP in 2023 and forecast the 2024 GG deficit to narrow to 8% of GDP, on the back of escalating revenue growth, narrower spending, falling off of some large one-off spending on deposit insurance in 2023.

"The interest burden, however, will continue to grow given the higher debt burden and impact of higher rates," Fitch added.

According to the agency, the outcome of the upcoming November presidential and congressional elections will be important for policymaking and the ability to pass and implement legislation.

In November, peer Moody's lowered outlook on the country's credit rating to "negative", citing large fiscal deficits and a decline in debt affordability.

(Reporting by Aatrayee Chatterjee and Shreyaa Narayanan; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Maju Samuel)

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