Chicago & Midwest + Illinois + Finance | March 14, 2023

Moody’s Upgrades Illinois Bond Rating, Following S&P Action in February

Moody’s Investor Service has upgraded Illinois general obligation bonds to A3 (stable outlook), the second major rating agency to return Illinois’ credit to the “A” category. The move follows S&P Global Ratings’ upgrade to A- for Illinois bonds last month, its third upgrade of Illinois’ bonds since 2021.

“This credit upgrade, our second one this year, is the result of the steps we’ve taken in Illinois to put ourselves on firm fiscal footing,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “We have balanced our budget, paid our bills on time, cleared out decades of debt, made extra pension payments, and saved billions for a rainy day.”

However, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Moody’s said Illinois’ fiscal challenges, including fixed-cost burdens, will “remain in place for some time.” Moody’s also noted that Illinois’ economic expansion has been slower than some other states’ and was likely to continue lagging “given a weak population trend.”

Connect

Inside The Story

Gov. Pritzker's office

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

Order Reprints