S&P raises rating of housing agency in Vermont to AA-plus

Standard & Poor's Corp. yesterday upgraded several Vermont Housing Finance Agency issues to AA-plus from AA-minus, according to Wendy Dolber,a director at the rating agency.

The bonds affected include: $43 million of mortgage programs bonds, Series 1977A, 1977B, 1978A, 1979A, 1986A, and 1988A; and $10.73 million of insured mortgage programs, Series 1976A and 1977A.

At the same time, Standard & Poor's removed the bonds from CreditWatch with negative implications.

Also, the rating agency upgraded $28.48 million of finance agency housing program bonds from A to A-plus.

The rating agency cited several factors that led to the upgrade. These included the high credit quality of the authority's assets, the strength of its cash flows, and the quality of investments it has made.

Ms. Dolber said the decision was "not designated to give any indication of the strength of Vermont's general obligation bonds," which were downgraded to AA-minus from AA in June 1991.

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