Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CHICAGO (AP) — Fitch Ratings is the latest agency to weigh in on Chicago's credit worthiness, setting the city's debt rating above the junk status given by Moody's Investors Service.
By lowering the city's rating to BBB+ from A-, Fitch Ratings indicated Friday that it believes the risk is low Chicago will default on its more than $8 billion worth of taxpayer-backed debt.
Moody's downgraded the city's rating to junk status Tuesday. Standard & Poor's on Thursday downgraded the city to four notches above junk status.
In a statement, Fitch said it didn't believe the Illinois Supreme Court's decision that pension changes passed by the Legislature were unconstitutional would directly affect the prospects for Chicago's pension overhaul. But Fitch noted Moody's downgrade gives banks the option to demand repayment of debt.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
