...S&P Global Ratings assigned its '###' long-term rating to Albuquerque, N.M.'s series 2016C gross receipts tax (GRT) improvement revenue bonds. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its '###' rating on the city's outstanding GRT debt. The outlook is stable. The city's GRT bonds are eligible to be rated above the sovereign because we believe the city can maintain better credit characteristics than the U.S. in a stress scenario. Under our criteria "Ratings Above the Sovereign--Corporate and Government Ratings: Methodology and Assumptions," U.S. local governments are considered to have moderate sensitivity to country risk. The city's locally derived revenues are the source of security for the bonds, and the institutional framework in the U.S. is predictable with significant U.S. local government autonomy. In a potential sovereign default scenario, U.S. local governments would maintain financial flexibility through the ability to continue collecting locally derived revenues and U.S....
