Nation : N.Y. State’s Credit Plummets
New York’s budget woes took a dramatic turn for the worse as Wall Street’s two major rating agencies lowered the state’s credit rating, leaving it with the third worst rating among the 50 states.
Monday’s credit downgradings could cost New York taxpayers millions of dollars in higher interest payments on the state’s debt. Only Massachusetts and Louisiana are rated as worse credit risks than New York.
Gov. Mario M. Cuomo has put blame for the state’s third straight year of fiscal problems on an unanticipated drop in tax revenues and the economic slowdown that has hit the Northeast.
The state’s budget deficit for fiscal 1990, which ends Saturday, is projected at more than $1 billion. A $1.5-billion shortfall forecast for fiscal 1991 “continues to grow,” Standard & Poor’s Corp. said in announcing its downgrade.
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