Geithner Predicts US Will ‘Never’ Lose AAA Rating

02-09-2010 | Source: emii.com

According to Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary, the U.S. AAA debt rating is not at risk despite the White House’s forecast for a deficit of $1.6 trillion this year, reports Bloomberg. In a Sunday interview, Geithner said that a downgrade “would never happen to this country,” a claim he supported by citing the international community’s “basic confidence” in U.S. securities and in the country’s ability to lead the global economy out of the recession.

The assertion comes shortly after the 2010 budget and deficit forecast were unveiled by President Barack Obama, which prompted Moody’s Investors Service to issue a warning that the U.S. debt rating would be lowered unless measures are taken to reduce the deficit going forward. Geithner acknowledged the need to rein in the national debt, but said that policies to lower the U.S. deficit would have to wait. He said that the top priority for financial policy makers in the short run was to “make sure that this economy is growing again.”

Click here to read the story from Bloomberg.