A New York agency has given the city of Pittsburgh a fiscal thumb's up, boosting the credit rating on its $720 million debt.

Fitch Ratings gave the city a BBB+ rating, close to the middle of the ranks of investment-worthy debt, and declared its outlook "stable."

"At times of international financial woes, Pittsburgh's economy continues to ride the storm and serve as a model for cities throughout the country," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said in a statement released yesterday, announcing the change that Fitch made Friday. "Our policies of holding the line on spending, cutting taxes and investing in our neighborhoods [are] working to make Pittsburgh's future brighter."

The city has stopped incurring new debt, has built a savings account that contained $89.5 million at the beginning of the year and cut the cost of employee health insurance. Its pension fund is still badly underfunded.

All three major New York rating agencies have now boosted the city's credit rating in the last 13 months.