US slips in credit survey.

The U.S. fell from third to sixth place among the world's most creditworthy nations, according to sovereign-risk analysts and economists who answered Institutional Investor's latest biannual questionnaire on country creditworthiness.

The U.S. had an average credit rating of 92.4 out of a possible 100, compared with 93.7 in the last survey, published in September 2004.

In the same six-month period, global average creditworthiness rose 0.2 points, to 42.9. While 50 countries gained at least a point, North America (U.S. and Canada) was the only region to lose one point or more since September.

Switzerland again boasted the highest credit score of the countries rated in the survey, followed by Norway, which moved up two slots to second place, and Luxembourg, which slipped a spot to third.

See the table below for top countries in order of their Country Credit ratings.

Rank
September   March                 credit    6-mth    1-yr
2004        2005    country       ratings   change   change

1           1       Switzerland   94.5      -0.7     -0.7
4           2       Norway        93.7       0.0     -0.3
2           3       Luxembourg    92.8      -1.1     -2.0
11          4 *     Finland       92.7       0.4      0.4
5           5 *     U.K.          92.7      -0.9     -1.3
3           6       U.S.          92.4      -1.3     -1.6
8           7       France         2.2      -0.5     -1.1
6           8       Denmark       92.1      -0.9     -0.3
7           9       Netherlands   92.0      -0.9     -1.9
9           10      Germany       91.8      -0.6     -1.0
13          11      Sweden        91.6      -0.5      0.7
12          12      Austria       91.2      -0.9     -0.8
10          13      Canada        90.9      -1.5     -1.0
14          14      Ireland       90.0      -0.5     -0.9
17          15      Singapore     89.5       1.4      3.1
15          16      Belgium       89.0      -0.1      0.7
16          17      Spain         87.6      -0.6     -0.5
18          18      Australia     86.0      -1.1     -0.6
22          19      Japan         84.4       1.2      2.1
19          20      Italy         83.6      -1.3     -1.6

* Order determined by actual results before rounding.