Fitch Ratings, a US credit rating agency, said Friday that it has lowered the country’s economic outlook to “negative” from “stable” due to high budget deficits, but kept its overall rating at the highest “AAA” level.

The downgrade is due to the ongoing deterioration in the US public finances and the absence of a credible fiscal consolidation plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said Fitch Ratings in a statement.

“There is a growing risk that US policymakers will not consolidate public finances sufficiently to stabilize public debt after the pandemic has passed,” said the statement.

Fitch expected the US economy to contract by 5.6 percent in 2020 and recover by 4 percent in 2021, with the massive fiscal policy response averting a deeper downturn, according to the statement.