Fitch is one of the major Wall Street firms that rates municipal bond issuances.
On January 22, 2019, the firm gave a “AA” rating to four bonds that were issued by the City of El Paso, including $40.9 million of General Obligation refunding bonds, series 2019C.
A “refunding bond” is issued in order to retire an earlier bond that has a higher interest rate.
Yesterday, July 6 at 12:44 PM MST, Fitch withdrew its “AA” rating for $40.9 million of the City’s refunding bonds, series 2019C, “as they did not sell.”
QUESTIONS:
- Did Fitch withdraw its rating because it sees bonds issued by the City of El Paso as a higher risk for investors?
- Why did our City’s bonds fail to sell?
- Is this a sign that El Paso’s bond ratings are now at higher risk because of the huge quantity of debt that our City has assumed?
Enjoy your day.