- Follows the upgrade to stable of the US Government's Aaa rating
- 37 indirectly linked local governments upgraded
ARLINGTON, Va. – Moody's Investors Service upgraded the County's municipal rating of Aaa to stable from negative following the same upgrade to the US government's bond rating on Thursday. The County ratings are now Aaa/AAA/AAA by Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's.
At the time of the US rating downgrade, Moody's cited the Federal Government's rising debt levels as a primary cause of the negative outlook. Moody's now believes that US debt is on track to meet the criteria originally set out in August 2011 as a prerequisite for returning to a stable outlook.
Due to their “close economic, financial and capital markets linkages to the federal government,” Moody's also placed four states and 37 local governments on negative outlook in 2011. Arlington and many other counties in the Washington metropolitan region that were considered indirectly linked to the US rating were included in that listing. In revising the County's rating, Moody's noted that “the conditions that led to the return to a stable outlook on the US government rating reduce the exposure to these risks over Moody's outlook period.”
Arlington has for years received a triple-Aaa bond rating, allowing it to sell bonds at very favorable interest rates.For more information, visit the County's website.