Maryland lost its treasured “triple triple-A” bond rating Wednesday, when a key bond-rating agency downgraded its assessment of the state’s creditworthiness to Aa1.
The move by Moody’s ends more than three decades in which Maryland held the highest bond rating from the three rating agencies: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.
Moody’s had given Maryland an Aaa rating every year since 1973 — until Wednesday. The rating agency also downgraded half a dozen other state borrowing programs in its report.
In its reasoning for the downgrade, Moody’s said Maryland continues to have a “wealthy and diverse economy,” solid financial planning and that officials had recently addressed budget problems “through a combination of tax increases and restraints on expenditures.” But those were not enough to offset concerns about looming financial challenges, the report said.
“The downgrade was driven by economic and financial underperformance compared to Aaa-rated states, which is expected to continue given the state’s heightened vulnerability to shifting federal policies and employment, and its elevated fixed costs,” Moody’s wrote in its report.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bryan Sears over at Maryland Matters
