US Downgraded to AA+ from AAA by Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's downgraded the long-term rating of the US government and federal agencies from AAA to AA+.  In response the US Federal Reserve has said: "For risk-based capital purposes, the risk weights for Treasury securities and other securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, government agencies, and government-sponsored entities will not change.  The treatment of Treasury securities and other securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, government agencies, and government-sponsored entities under other federal banking agency regulations, including, for example, the Federal Reserve Board's Regulation W, will also be unaffected."

The US Federal Reserve's FOMC meets next week on the 9th of August to review monetary policy settings.  The FOMC last held the fed funds rate unchanged at 0 to 0.25 percent, and announced that it would finish the $600 billion asset purchase program or "Quantitative Easing II" when it met in June.  Standard & Poor's noted in its release: "The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics".

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