Connecticut

Connecticut Bond Rating Appears Stable Despite Coronavirus Crisis

NBCConnecticut.com

With so many things changing amid the coronavirus, one may be staying the same — Connecticut’s bond rating.

According to Standard and Poors Financial Services, a credit rating company, the state is likely to see a “stable” outlook for investments over the next 15 to 18 months.

This comes as a result of roughly a decade of rebuilding Connecticut’s bond rating after it was lowered due to the 2008 recession and large deficits in the early 2000s.

Bond ratings impact the interest rate the state can borrow money at.

Standard and Poors explained to NBC Connecticut that Connecticut has an “A” rating, meaning investors have a “high credit quality with a low credit risk.” They added that if the state were at risk of downgrading its bond rating due to COVID-19, it would have likely already happened.

Connecticut is the only state in the tristate area that has not yet faced a negative credit impact amid the pandemic.

“All three credits are very different from one another and they each have their different challenges,” Marcy Block, senior director at Fitch Ratings, told NBC Connecticut. “The one thing I would point out on the strength side of Connecticut is that Connecticut has a much stronger liquidity.”

Block said it’s “difficult” to predict how ratings could look for the state in 2021.

“We can't speak to the future ratings,” Block said. “But I would go off of where they are currently with a stable outlook.”

New Jersey’s bond rating was recently lowered from an “A” to an “A-” by Fitch Ratings, citing the coronavirus as its reason.

Fitch, along with Moody’s Corporation also reported that neighboring New York’s bond rating changed from “stable” to “negative.”

NBC Connecticut reached out to Moody’s Corporation who said they are unable to provide specific information on ratings.

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