US credit rating under threat

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The US government's need to provide financial backing to the state-sponsored mortgage financiers that dominate the US housing market could pose a risk to the country's triple-A credit rating, Standard & Poor's, the credit rating agency, said on Monday.

In the event of a deep and prolonged US recession, S&P said the potential costs of propping up government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) like Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac, which have implicit government backing, could cost the US government up to 10 per cent of GDP.

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Policymakers are pushing for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the lesser-known Federal Home Loan Banks to pump liquidity into the US mortgage market and this has prompted regulators to call for stronger oversight of such institutions.

The capital surplus ratio for GSEs was recently reduced to 20 per cent from 30 per cent, allowing them to operate on a more leveraged basis.

Financial Times