Australia and New South Wales continue to enjoy AAA sovereign credit ratings from both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. A top sovereign credit rating signifies an extremely strong capacity for governments to meet their financial commitments and withstand changing economic circumstances.

The rating agencies examine the State’s economic structure, and financial performance and outlook, together with the Government’s fiscal strategy to derive their ratings in their annual reviews.

In January 2009, Moody's affirmed the State’s triple-A credit rating, reflecting ‘a sound record of financial performance, low debt burden and sizeable and diverse economic base.’ Additionally, Moody’s noted that strong governance and management had contributed to the State’s ‘strong record of meeting or exceeding targets over many consecutive years.’

New South Wales has maintained the highest AAA foreign currency long-term credit rating from Standard & Poor’s since February 2003. In June 2009, following the release of the 2009-10 New South Wales Budget, Standard & Poor’s affirmed the State’s AAA rating, and revised its outlook back to stable.  Standard & Poor’s noted the State’s strong economic structure and moderately low debt burden in its June 2009 statement.  The New South Wales Government’s Budget set out a record capital spending program of almost $63 billion over four years, while its Mini-Budget in November 2008 identified $3.3 billion in savings over four years.

New South Wales’ sovereign credit rating is a reflection of the low risk of doing business in the State. The State’s top credit rating also helps it to provide essential infrastructure and services at a lower cost to its residents than it would have otherwise.