BlackRock Inc., Loomis Sayles & Co. and Franklin Templeton Investments said the U.S. faces losing its top-level debt rating as officials struggle to raise the $14.3 trillion borrowing limit.
Investors are warning a cut is likely as President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner argue over how to increase the debt ceiling, while also trying to curb borrowing. The government needs to boost the cap by Aug. 2 so it can keep paying its bills, according to the Treasury Department.
“Our guess is, when push comes to shove, the debt ceiling will be raised,” said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at New York-based BlackRock, which manages $3.66 trillion. “What goes along with that is very difficult to tell, and that’s why the threat of a downgrade still exists,” Doll said in an interview today on Bloomberg Television’s “First Up.”
