Victoria, NSW lose AAA credit rating: S&P

Matthew Cranston, Jonathan Shapiro and John Kehoe

Dec 7, 2020 – 1.48pm

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Surging government debt and business lockdowns during the COVID-19-induced recession have forced S&P Global Ratings to cut the credit ratings of the two biggest states, pushing up borrowing costs marginally and raising some concerns about federal government debt ratings.

S&P Global Ratings slashed Victoria’s credit rating by a more severe double notch to AA and lowered NSW to AA+, marking the first time since 2003 that either state has missed out on the top-tier AAA rating held by the federal government.

Matthew Cranston is the United States correspondent, based in Washington. He was previously the Economics correspondent and Property editor.

Jonathan Shapiro writes about banking and finance, specialising in hedge funds, corporate debt, private equity and investment banking. He is based in Sydney.

John Kehoe is economics editor at Parliament House, Canberra. He writes on economics, politics and business. John was Washington correspondent covering Donald Trump’s first election. He joined the Financial Review in 2008 from Treasury.