Rating agency Moodys has downgraded the credit rating of the United States from its highest notch, citing a high debt and interest burden that is significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.
The agency said the one-notch downgrade from AAA to Aa1 reflected the increase of more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that were significantly higher than similarly rated sovereign nations.
The Moodys decision brings it in line with Standard and Poors and Fitch, which downgraded the USA from its triple-A rating in 2011 and 2023, respectively.
Moodys said that successive US administrations and Congress had failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs.
The agency also changed its outlook on the U.S. to stable from negative. The USs debt-to-GDP ratio is at 124 with a debt of 36 trillion dollars.
