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Finance

Donald Trump Won’t Make America’s Credit Rating Great Again, Standard & Poor’s Says

Lucinda Shen
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Lucinda Shen
Lucinda Shen
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Lucinda Shen
By
Lucinda Shen
Lucinda Shen
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January 11, 2017, 8:42 AM ET
Photograph by Getty Images

Economists say Donald Trump’s plan to boost spending and cut taxes will give the U.S. economy a leg up.

But Trump won’t help lenders feel more confident about the U.S. government’s ability to pay back its debts.

In an interview with CNBC Wednesday, Moritz Kraemer, the chief sovereign ratings officer of Standard & Poor’s said that the firm was unlikely to raise the U.S.’s credit rating back to the coveted AAA from its current AA score. Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S.’s credit rating in 2011 over concerns about the country’s debt burden and growing budget deficit.

Trump’s plans to increase spending on projects such as more infrastructure are expected only to deepen the budget deficit—making it unlikely that the country’s credit rating will rise.

 

“The predictability of policy making is very… uncertain,” Kraemer added, referring to the incoming administration. “For a triple A rated sovereign, you would expect a little more visibility, sort of more continuity in policies.”

But Kraemer also noted that the country’s credit rating is stable, and is unlikely to change for at least a while.

 

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Lucinda Shen
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