| Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
NEW YORK—Four internationally recognized, independent credit rating agencies have assigned strong ratings in the double-A category and stable outlooks to the City of New York’s upcoming sale of $1.5 billion of General Obligation Bonds. The sale includes the city’s third issuance of Social Bonds, reflecting its solid economic recovery post-pandemic, record-high employment, steady tax revenue growth, and a rebound in tourism.
Moody’s Ratings, S&P Global Ratings, Fitch Ratings, and Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) assigned the city administration a strong bond rating, an indication of the city’s financial strength and encourages continued investment in the city’s bonds, which help support funding to build and maintain schools, streets, parks, and other critical infrastructure that spans the five boroughs.
According to the Adams administration, proceeds from the sale of the city’s social bonds will support the construction and development of over 4,300 more affordable housing units in New York City and continue to build on the administration’s efforts to build more homes across the five boroughs, through efforts such as the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” proposal.
“Our administration has done a remarkable job to stabilize our city’s finances and put us on a strong fiscal path,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “Once again, the four internationally-recognized credit rating agencies are recognizing the prudent fiscal management we have implemented and how our administration has made the hard but smart decisions that will protect New Yorkers for years to come.”
Adams noted his administration’s record-high employment, a rebound of tourism, and a decline in crime. “New Yorkers are better off today than they were when we took office two years ago, and as the credit agencies point out, there is tremendous reason to continue to be bullish on New York City,” he said.
The city has consistently achieved high bond ratings that have been either upgraded or maintained. These ratings are the ninth consecutive time the city’s General Obligation bong ratings have been affirmed by all four agencies at current levels. Fitch Ratings revised the city’s outlook from stable to positive in May 2022 and upgraded the city’s credit rating from AA- to AA in February 2023.
The credit ratings follow the July 2024 release of an on-time, balanced, and fiscally responsible $112.4 billion Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 that invests in the future of New York City. It addresses the three things that cost New Yorkers the most: housing, child care, and health care — and invests billions of dollars of city resources in critical areas, including early childhood education, cultural organizations, parks, public safety, transit, and more.
–With Jay Domingo/PDM
