The City of Regina has earned a AAA credit rating for the third consecutive year, from S&P Global.

Mayor Sandra Masters says the credit rating just shows how well the city has managed its finances, especially while dealing with COVID-19.

“That credit rating influences the interest rate the City of Regina pays for the money it borrows for funding of infrastructure and other projects,” said Masters. “Keeping lower interest costs on the amount that we have borrowed, means that we can maximize the amount of revenue available to fund other city programs and services.”

Masters says having a low interest rate while recovering from the pandemic is not only good for the city, but for taxpayers as well.

She adds the city had to make some tough decisions over the past year, including deferring some major capital investments, but it seems to have paid off.

“It was unclear at the outset of the pandemic what the support that was going to be coming from other levels of government,” said Masters. “In the absence of that information, those decisions were made, which allowed us to meet our obligations and come out of it with a bit of money in reserve and deferral of projects that are now being undertaken this year.”

Masters says the city already has a good understanding of what they’re spending this year, and fully expect to maintain that AAA  rating.