Moody's ratings agency has just given the council a AAA rating, while Standard & Poor's has awarded it a AA+, with a stable outlook. As Paul Dale has pointed out in the Post, not only does the Moody's rating place the council above the USA in terms of credit worthiness, it also puts Birmingham ahead of many major banks. Meanwhile, reports claim that Barclays is actively backing a serious market in UK municipal bonds with credit ratings for UK municipal authorities on the way to facilitate it, possibly by the end of this year.