US likely to suffer second downgrade - Merrill

The US is set to see another ratings agency strip it of its AAA-credit rating by the end of the year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has predicted.

Merrill said the move is likely to come by the end of 2011, as agencies remain concerned about the nation’s budget deficit, Reuters reports. The trigger would be a likely failure by Congress to agree on a credible long-term plan to cut the deficit, the bank said in a research note published on Friday. A second downgrade - either from Moody's or Fitch - would follow Standard & Poor's downgrade in August on concerns about the government's budget deficit and rising debt burden. A fresh loss of the country's top credit rating would be an additional blow to the sluggish US economy, Merr...