US rating may be cut again, Merrill says

NEW YORK - The United States will likely suffer the loss of its AAA credit rating from another major rating agency by the end of this year due to concerns over the deficit, Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecast.

The trigger will be a likely failure by a US Congress committee to agree on a credible long-term plan to cut the US deficit, the bank said in a research note published on Friday.

A second downgrade - either from Moody's Investor's Service or Fitch Ratings - would follow Standard & Poor's downgrade in August on concerns about the government's budget deficit and rising debt burden. A second loss of the country's top credit rating would be an additional blow to the sluggish US economy, Merrill said.