Fitch downgrades US long-term credit rating

International credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has downgraded the US’s long-term credit rating from “AAA” to “AA+”, while changing the outlook to stable from negative watch. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that she absolutely disagreed with Fitch’s decision. In a statement, Fitch noted that the downgrade of the US’s rating reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next 3 years, the high and growing general government debt burden, and the erosion of governance compared to similarly rated peers that has manifested itself in last-minute decisions with repeated debt limit impasses. The statement reported that the credit rating agency downgraded the US’s long-term credit rating from “AAA” to “AA+”, while changing the outlook to stable from negative watch. Yellen did not agree with the decision US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated in a written statement on the subject that she absolutely disagreed with Fitch’s decision. Yellen, who claimed that the decision in question was "based on arbitrary and outdated data," announced that the agency was now announcing the rating change despite the progress made by the US in many of the indicators on which Fitch based its decision. Yellen said, "Fitch's decision does not change what Americans, investors and people around the world already know." Yellen pointed out that the US economy has experienced a rapid economic recovery in the last few years, reminded that the unemployment rate is near historically low levels, inflation has fallen significantly since last summer and the US economy continues to grow.