Article: Bay State's bond rating gets a boost

Massachusetts officials' hopes for an improvement in the state's worst-in-the-nation bond rating got a boost yesterday when two of three Wall Street agencies improved the state's rating for a note sale planned later this month.

Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Investor Services increased from 2 to 1, on a three-level scale, the state's rating for a $140 million issue of bond anticipation notes. Standard & Poor's, the other major bond ratings agency, took no action.

Ratings for bond anticipation notes are different from those for long-term general obligation debt. Both Moody's and S&P have maintained the lowest possible rating -- just above "junk bond" status -- for Massachusetts bonds. ...

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