Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the credit rating of the Northern Territory Treasury Corporation, the financing authority of the Northern Territory Government. The ratings agency dropped the NTTC’s credit rating one notch from Aa2 from Aa1 and changed the outlook to stable from negative.
Moody’s said larger deficits are expected to add to the Northern Territory’s debt levels as revenue from taxation, grants and duties weaken and outgoings fall at a slower rate, held up mostly through healthcare and other social services costs. The NT’s Power and Water Corporation also gets a special mention for its financial “weakness”.
It’s not all bad news, however. Moody’s noted the level of Federal Government support for the territory, its “solid economic prospects related to large resource investments” and the NT Government’s acknowledgement of a need to rectify its budget in the medium term.