US debt rating stable for now, says Fitch

Investing.com -- A second US credit rating downgrade is unlikely in the near term despite ongoing fiscal pressures, according to James Longsdon of Fitch Ratings.

Longsdon told reporters in Frankfurt on Wednesday that the 2023 decision to lower America's rating from AAA to AA+ already accounted for many current fiscal challenges.

"Ratings tend to move, then they sit for a while and they may be there for a long while, but they very rarely move fast again for a second time," Longsdon explained. He added that while "the risks are certainly more to the downside than to an upgrade," the current rating accurately reflects the situation that prompted the downgrade.

In May of last year, Moody's Ratings became the last major credit agency to remove America's top score. Fitch's most recent report on the country came in August, with no changes to its assessment.

"A stable outlook means we're not expecting a downgrade in the next one to two years," Longsdon stated.

The dollar's reserve currency status remains a key factor in Fitch's evaluation, even as the greenback recently experienced its steepest one-day decline since the 2025 tariff implementation following President Donald Trump's relaxed comments about its falling value.

"It's still clearly the predominant reserve currency," Longsdon noted. "You look at the data points — it really has hardly moved at all on that."

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