Council’s AA+ credit rating revised

Credit rating agency Fitch has signalled ongoing confidence in Invercargill City Council’s financial position, reaffirming the city’s AA+ credit rating despite a shift to a negative outlook.

The move follows an earlier revision of the sovereign credit rating, with the New Zealand Government’s outlook downgraded from stable to negative on 20 March.

Invercargill City Council Group Manager Finance and Assurance Patricia Christie said the revised outlook was expected, as Fitch would not rate councils above the New Zealand sovereign rating of AA+/Negative.

“Council’s revenue sources, debt profile and expenditure responsibilities are heavily influenced by the actions of central Government, so the sovereign rating has a direct impact on us,” she said.

“The change to a negative outlook doesn’t affect our cost of borrowing or our strong financial position, reflected in our AA+ credit rating.”

Fitch Ratings is an international credit rating agency that provides independent assessments of credit risk and ranks the credit worthiness of organisations.

You can read the full media release from Fitch Ratings here.