The 'A' rating on New York City's $650 million GO bonds fiscal 2003 series I is based on the city's substantial and diverse economic base, which weakened through the recent national recession and has grown slowly, and the weak performance of the financial services sector, which remains an impediment to economic growth. Also factored into the rating is the city's well-managed financial program, which has proactively responded to record budget gaps, and a high debt burden by all measures. The city's credit outlook was changed to negative from stable in November 2002 based on growing budget gaps and the outline of the plan put forward by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to address the fiscal 2003-2004 budget gap of $7.36 billion. The
