25-5-2023 (New York) – Fitch Ratings, the credit rating agency, has put the U.S.’s AAA-rated long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating on a “negative watch” due to the ongoing debt ceiling deadlock. The agency announced its decision on Wednesday, citing increased political partisanship as the reason behind the move.
In a statement, Fitch Ratings said, “The Rating Watch Negative reflects increased political partisanship that is hindering reaching a resolution to raise or suspend the debt limit.” The U.S. debt limit reached 31.4 trillion dollars in January, but discussions between the White House and congressional leaders only began on May 9th, less than a month before the estimated date of a U.S. government default on its debt obligations.
