Connecticut Rating Cut by Fitch
June 7th, 2010Via: Bloomberg:
Connecticut, the state with the highest tax-supported debt, had its bond rating lowered one level to AA by Fitch Ratings as it prepares to borrow money to cover a budget deficit for a second straight year.
The state, whose residents are the wealthiest in the U.S., relies “on borrowing to address its ongoing fiscal challenges in the context of already high liabilities and large projected structural gaps,” Fitch analysts Doug Offerman and Laura Porter wrote in a press release today. The analysts didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.
Connecticut is preparing to borrow $956 million to close a budget gap in the fiscal year beginning July 1, after borrowing money last year to cover a deficit of $947.6 million, the analysts said. Lawmakers also chose to draw down the state’s rainy-day fund and raise the top income tax for residents after tax collections fell almost 15 percent in the year ending June 30, 2009, according to Fitch.
