(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Another bond-rating agency has upgraded the city of Chicago's financial outlook.
Standard & Poor's Global Ratings has moved Chicago to "stable" from "negative" and gives the city a long-term rating of BBB+.
S&P's revision follows a similar upgrade by Fitch Ratings and other firms.
Mayor Lightfoot and her budget team said the improved ratings indicate that the city is doing a good job making structural changes to city finances, including looming pension liabilities.
Bond ratings influence the terms under which governments can borrow money.
"We will climb our pension ramp, which means that for the first time in our city's history, all four pension funds will be paid on an actuarially determined basis," the mayor said in a news release. "Thanks to these accomplishments, as well as the passage of the 2022 Budget, we expect to reach structural balance by 2023, which bodes well for our prosperous, post-pandemic recovery."
