Maryland has retained its coveted AAA bond rating, even as one major agency said it had enough concerns to issue a warning about the state’s fiscal stability.
All three major credit rating agencies — Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P Global Ratings — reaffirmed the highest credit rating for the state this week. Moody’s, however, downgraded the state’s outlook from stable to “negative,” citing concerns about looming structural deficits driven by programs including the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reforms.
The updated ratings come ahead of a $1.2 billion state bond sale scheduled for Wednesday.
“The negative outlook incorporates difficulties Maryland will face to achieve balanced financial operations in coming years without sacrificing service delivery goals or adding to the weight of the state government’s burden on individual and corporate taxpayers,” Moody’s said in its report.
This is the first time since 2011 that Moody’s has issued a negative outlook for Maryland, according to the Maryland State Treasurer’s office.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bryan Sears over at Maryland Matters
