The projection offered this week about Oklahoma’s slumping economy from Moody’s Investors Service wasn’t necessarily a shock to state leaders. Nonetheless, it also wasn’t consoling to the governor and legislative leaders as they struggle with a $1.3 billion hole in Oklahoma’s budget for next year.
Moody’s released a report indicating Oklahoma’s suffering from declining revenue collections due to slumping oil and natural gas prices will continue for a while.
“Low oil prices have already caused sharp declines in revenues collected by Oklahoma and its local governments, but more pain is on the horizon as the rest of the economy slows down due to muted drilling activity,” stated the report by Julius Vizner, Moody’s Associate Vice President.
He also predicts the downturn in oil prices will continue in the short term. Despite the prediction, Moody’s still gives Oklahoma an Aa2 credit rating which is the firm’s third-highest credit quality rating. It’s also the same rating the state’s had since 1993.
