BATON ROUGE – On Thursday, Governor Bobby Jindal’s press office issued the following press release, “Fitch Ratings assigned an underlying rating of ‘A+’ to Louisiana general obligation (GO) bonds, and upgraded approximately $2.3 billion in outstanding GO debt to ‘A+’ from ‘A,’ making this the third straight day that a major bond rating agency has upgraded Louisiana’s bond rating.
In Fitch’s announcement today they said the upgrade for Louisiana “reflects the state's recent strong financial performance and management, growing reserve position, and continued economic expansion.” Fitch added that “the state's current financial position is strong.”
Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Louisiana’s underlying general obligation bond rating yesterday from ‘A2’ to ‘A1.’ Moody’s report declared that “Louisiana's economic and fiscal recovery after Katrina has been impressive,” and the agency cited newly adopted economic development and business investment strategies, as well as recently passed ethics reforms, as a basis for its outlook.
On Tuesday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) upgraded Louisiana’s general obligation (GO) and appropriation-backed debt ratings to ‘A+’ from its previous ‘A’ rating. S&P said it based its upgrade on the “continued strong revenue performance and budget discipline in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita….In the past three years, the state has prudently managed surpluses by allocating them to one-time expenditures or to recurring items that are affordable.”
The three rating upgrades, like higher credit scores, typically mean better borrowing terms that can save the state millions of dollars.
Governor Bobby Jindal said, “We got three turns at the plate, three chances to show the financial world that Louisiana is making wise fiscal decisions and is very much open for business, and we came away with three solid hits. These three ratings upgrades are great news, but we know we still have a lot of work to do to continue to improve our ratings and to foster more business investment and greater job creation so our kids don’t have to leave home to pursue their dreams.”
Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis said, “To have a third major credit rating agency base its upgrade decision on Louisiana's ‘recent strong financial performance and management’ is great affirmation of the positive steps we have been taking and a wonderful story we intend to keep telling throughout the business world.”
State Treasurer John Kennedy said, “National credit rating agencies have taken note of Louisiana's fiscal discipline since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. For Louisianans, the credit upgrades mean more taxpayer savings, increased economic development and more jobs.”
