The City of Melbourne has maintained its debt free status for the fifth year and again achieved a AAA credit rating. International rating agency Standard and Poor’s has reaffirmed Council’s AAA long term currency rating, its AA+ long term foreign currency rating and its A-1+ local and foreign currency short term ratings, which are all underpinned by Council’s strong balance sheet.
In terms of cash investments, Council achieved an annualised return on cash investments of 4.593 per cent, which is slightly better than the industry benchmark set at 4.570 per cent. Council’s end of year financial reports also recorded a strong surplus of $7.4 million, and was achieved with no negative impact on its Corporate Plan objectives. While Council’s financial health is obviously important, the City of Melbourne believes other issues also have to be addressed and is committed to triple bottom line reporting.