S&P reaffirms US long-term credit rating

Standard&Poor´s reaffirmed its rating on the long-term sovereign debt of the US, albeit while highlighting the need for policies oriented towards the medium-term.

S&P affirmed the US´s AA+ rating, saying that the country´s three main strengths were its diversified and resilient economy, extensive economic policy flexibility, and unique status as the issuer of the world's leading reserve currency.

Nevertheless, its analysts cautioned that "a high level of general government debt and the relatively short-term-oriented nature of policymaking constrain the ratings. We expect the debt burden will hold fairly steady over the next several years but then rise thereafter absent medium-term measures to raise additional revenue and/or cut nondiscretionary expenditures."

The so-called 'outlook' for the country´s debt rating, which is meant to reflect the likelihood of an upgrade or downgrade over the short-term, was kept at 'neutral', indicating that the odds of each scenario were the same.