Published: Tuesday, 23 Jun 2009 | 4:47 AM ET

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Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday that the U.S. government's triple-A credit rating was safe but added that it could be at risk if Washington were unable to bring its public debt back to a downward trajectory.

Financial markets have repeatedly been spooked this year by concern that triple-A rated governments such as the United States and Britain could face credit ratings downgrades as they borrow heavily to spend their way out of recession.

"The U.S. government triple-A is safe," Pierre Cailleteau, team managing director of Moody's Sovereign Risk Group, said at a media briefing on sovereign credit ratings held in Tokyo.

Cailleteau added that another possible threat to the rating could come from any severe challenge to the dollar as the main international reserve currency.

Debate has flared in the past few months about the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency at a time when the United States' debt issuance is ballooning to pay for financial and economic rescue programs.

The bulk of the world's foreign exchange reserves are held in dollars, and Russia, the holder of the world's third-largest reserves after China and Japan, has repeatedly called for less global reliance on the dollar.

Moody's Investors Service said in May that it was comfortable with the triple-A sovereign rating on the United States, but it was not guaranteed forever.

See It also warned in May that if the United States failed to reduce current debt levels once economic growth returned, the triple-A rating could come under pressure.

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