Government keeps AA+ credit rating, Fitch warns to keep ‘culture of fiscal responsibility

Government keeps AA+ credit rating, Fitch warns to keep ‘culture of fiscal responsibility
Finance Minister Nicola Willis. (Image: NZME)
Staff reporters
The Government has kept its AA+ credit rating from Fitch, one of the big three ratings agencies – but the agency warned that a slackening culture of fiscal responsibility, a more severe housing market correction, or an unemployment spike could see the rating reduced in future.The outlook, which is the long-term foreign-currency rating, was listed as “stable”, meaning the agency is not putting the Government on notice of a downgrade.In a commentary, Fitch raised a handful of concerns, including that the Government’s forec...