WASHINGTON — Alaska plans to issue $163 million of bond anticipation notes and $95 million of general obligation bonds later this month.
Deven Mitchell, Alaska's state debt manager, said the notes will price on March 10 and the bonds on March 26.
Alaska carries triple-A ratings on its GO bonds, which are being issued to refund outstanding debt.
Standard & Poor's said it believes the state will use the notes to retire a 2014 issuance, and will likely retire the new notes with a future note or GO issuance.
S&P Feb. 27 assigned its SP-1-plus rating to the BANs, while affirming its AAA rating on Alaska GOs and its AA-plus rating on the state's appropriation-backed debt.
In 2012 Alaska voters approved more than $450 million in bonding authority to finance transportation projects across the state. Fitch affirmed its AAA rating on Alaska GOs last week.
"We believe Alaska has prudently and effectively used prior revenue windfalls to accumulate extraordinarily large budget reserves," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Gabriel Petek. "In our view, the budget reserves enable the state to weather a period of structural — and large — budget imbalances. As we see it, the state has a sufficient level of reserves to withstand the shortfall in its unrestricted general fund for at least two years."
