Rating trends across the U.S. public finance sector were “decidedly positive” in the second quarter despite the default by Detroit, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service said yesterday, as it noted that its upgrades of municipal debt outpaced downgrades, Reuters reported yesterday. The credit ratings agency said in a report that it raised 194 ratings and only lowered 94 during the second quarter, the third straight quarter in which municipal debt upgrades outpaced downgrades. Detroit, which recently filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, accounted for five of the seven defaults in the quarter. Fritch, Texas, and West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pennsylvania also defaulted on their debt. S&P said the defaults “were a higher number than normal.”
