Connecticut has had its bond rating upgraded by Moody’s and Fitch, two major capital market rating agencies.
The Moody’s upgrade is from Aa3 to Aa2, while the Fitch upgrade is from AA- to AA, according to state officials.
Governor Ned Lamont said on Wednesday that the upgrades validate the state’s creditworthiness and help attract more business.
“Look, Moody’s is downgrading the United States of America, and we’ve had seven upgrades over the last six years,” he said.
“And I’ll tell you what that means. That means when I talk to these companies, they say I’m going to take a second look at Connecticut.”
The U.S. lost its last perfect AAA credit rating in May when Moody’s downgraded it to Aa1 due to growing concerns about national debt and continued fiscal discipline.
By contrast, Connecticut’s upgrades reflect the state’s budget discipline and progress in paying down its pension debt, said State Treasurer Erick Russell.
“To kind of put this big picture, we’ve grown our pension to about $63 billion in assets under management. Ten years ago, we were about $30 billion,” Russell said.
The state's pension funds reported returns of 10.14% for Fiscal Year 2025, once again substantially outpacing the assumed rate of return of 6.9%, he said.
