It has been more than five years since credit ratings firm Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. economy from the prized AAA score to AA -- and that is unlikely to change in 2017, Standard and Poor's chief sovereign rating officer said Wednesday.
A spokesman for S&P said at the time, the firm justified its downgrade on concerns over the rising budget deficit and debt burden. And the world's largest economy is not doing in his words "very much to actually dispel those concerns."
S&P forecast last December an increase in U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.4% for 2017, up from a projection of 1.6% for last year.
Despite expectations of higher growth in 2017, the agency is concerned with an uptick in government deficit as a result of President-elect Donald Trump's policies. He has pledged to cut corporate and income tax, while also investing in infrastructure.
Trump is scheduled to give a news conference Wednesday morning, which investors will pore over for any details on policies.
In a report issued Wednesday, S&P said that sovereign rating downgrades are unlikely to outpace upgrades in 2017. Last year, downgrades outnumbered upgrades by almost 3:1, the agency said.
