Municipal debt remains strong, credit agencies say.

• Position: Brief article

As a class of debt, municipal debt remains strong and defaults will remain isolated situations, according to U.S. State and Local Government Bond Credit Quality. More Sparks than Fire, a report released November 16, 2010, by Fitch Ratings. The report addresses the questions investors have asked most frequently about tax-backed credits in the face of the fiscal stress confronting state and local governments.

Fitch highlights legal and practical protections for investors that are embedded in U.S. tax-backed credits, including taxing power, relatively low levels of debt, the prevalence of balanced budget requirements, a ten-year cumulative default rate of 0.04 percent to 0.29 percent, and the unlikelihood of bankruptcy filings.

Municipal bankruptcies, widely predicted in recent years, have been extremely uncommon and are likely to remain so, according to an October 18, 2010, report from Moody's Investors Service. The report, titled US. Local Government Bankruptcy...