Richmond’s government has moved closer to its long-term goal of achieving an AAA credit rating from Wall Street credit rating agencies.

Seeking to turn the page from his defeat on the $1.5 billion Coliseum replacement and Downtown redevelopment plan, Mayor Levar M. Stoney celebrated the city’s first credit rating upgrade in six years, which could reduce the interest rate the city must pay when it sells general obligation bonds and increase the city’s ability to borrow money.

Mayor Stoney announced that one of the three rating agencies, Moody’s Investors Services, had upgraded the city’s general obligation debt rating from AA2 to Aa1, or just one spot away from Triple A.

He stated that the other two agencies, S&P Global, and Fitch, previously had rated the city’s debt obligations at the second highest level.

Moody’s, which had put a positive label on the city’s debt last year, stated the upgrade to Aa1 “reflects the continued growth and diversification of the city’s sizeable and region- ally significant tax base, improved and solidified (financial) reserves supported by formal fiscal policies and conservative budget assumptions and improved pension and other post-employment benefit funding levels.”

The rating agency noted the city faces challenges, including above average debt and pension burdens compared with other localities with higher ratings and noted that a sizeable portion of residents have below average incomes. However, Moody’s found the city had kept those challenges manageable.

The finding, though, appeared to undermine the mayor’s claims that the massive Coliseum project, which was rejected by a majority of Richmond City Council on Feb. 10, was essential to the city’s future and its ability to expand borrowing for other city projects, such as new school buildings.