Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it assigned its 'A' rating to New York City's $680 million GO bonds fiscal 2004 series F, and affirmed its 'A' rating on the city's approximately $29 billion of outstanding parity debt, reflecting: The city's substantial and diverse economic base, which is slowly recovering from the recent national recession and economic repercussions of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks; A well-managed financial program that has proactively responded to record budget gaps; and A high debt burden by all measures. New York City will privately place $500 million of the fiscal 2004 series F fixed-rate bonds to Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as part of a total return interest-rate swap to variable-rate debt. The city's total
