評級機構降低美國債務預期

The Standard and Poors rating agency has cut its long-term outlook for U.S. government debt from "stable" to "negative," but it has kept its high "Triple-A" credit rating in place for now.

S&P said Monday it was lowering its outlook because of the risk that U.S. policymakers may not come to agreement on long-term budget challenges and the U.S. debt ceiling. The ratings agency outlook and concerns about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery helped cause U.S. stock markets to take a sharp drop at the opening of trading in New York Monday.

The triple-A rating means there is likely no short-term increase in the U.S. government's cost of borrowing to fund its estimated $1.5 trillion budget deficit. Current estimates are that the U.S. government debt stands at $14 trillion.

標準普爾評級機構把美國政府債務的長期前景從“穩定”降低到“負面”，但美國的信用評級目前仍保持在“3A”的高水平。

標準普爾評級機構星期一說，它降低了這一預期，原因是美國的決策者們可能無法就長期的預算挑戰和美國債務上限達成協議。這個評級機構對美國經濟恢復力度的預期和擔憂導致美國股市星期一在紐約交易所開盤時大跌。

信用等級3A意味着，美國政府靠借貸資助約1萬5千億美元預算赤字的成本，短期內可能不會增加。目前的預計是，美國政府的債務爲14萬億美元。