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1

0:00/1:34

Fitch Ratings cut the United States' credit rating by one notch, from the top-rated AAA to AA+, saying rising deficits and political brinkmanship are imperiling the government's ability to pay its debts.

번역 보기
notch
벤자리, 움푹파인 공간
deficit
적자
brinkmanship
벼랑 끝 전술
imperil
위협하다

The downgrade comes two months after the Biden administration and House Republicans agreed to suspend the government's debt ceiling in a last minute deal, narrowly avoiding a potentially disastrous federal default.

번역 보기
suspend
멈추다
a last minute deal
막판 협상에서
disastrous
끔직한, 재앙적인
default
채무불이행

2

0:00/1:34

It marks another rebuke for the U.S., which lost its AAA rating from Standard & Poor's in 2011 in the midst of another debt ceiling standoff. Today, only one of the three major credit ratings agencies — Moody's Investors Service — gives the United States a top-notch AAA rating.

번역 보기
rebuke
비난
standoff
교착 상태

The credit rating agency warned of mounting red ink and an unwillingness in both political parties to grapple with long-term fiscal challenges, while expressing little confidence in the government's ability to manage the country's finances.

번역 보기
mount
점점 증가하다
red ink
회계의 차변, 손실
unwillingness
거부, 거부심
grapple
맞붙어 싸우다
confidence
신임

3

0:00/1:34

"In Fitch's view, there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters," the credit rating agency said in announcing the downgrade. "The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management."

번역 보기
deterioration
악화
erode
좀먹다, 부식되다

4

0:00/1:34

The move drew swift pushback from the Biden administration. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called it "arbitrary" and based on outdated information.

번역 보기
draw pushback
반발을 불러일으키다
swift
빠른
arbitrary
임의의, 자의적인

"Fitch's decision does not change what Americans, investors, and people all around the world already know," Yellen said in a statement. "Treasury securities remain the world's preeminent safe and liquid asset, and...the American economy is fundamentally strong."

번역 보기
preeminent
최고의, 뛰어난
liquid
유동적인

5

0:00/1:34

Fitch notes the spending limits adopted as part of the debt deal clinched in June cover only a small fraction of the overall budget, and don't address longer-term challenges in financing Social Security and Medicare for an aging population.

번역 보기
clinch
결정하다, 완료하다
fraction
부분, 비율
aging population
고령화 인구

Tax cuts and government spending have led to widening government deficits in recent years. And with rising interest rates, the cost of bridging that gap has increased. Government interest payments in the first nine months of the fiscal year totaled $652 billion — a 25% increase from the same period a year earlier.

번역 보기
bridge the gap
격차를 해소하다, 공백을 메우다