(Washington, DC) At its annual meeting today, the DC Chamber of Commerce honored Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi with its Impact Award for his success in improving the District of Columbia’s bond rating.

The Impact Award is given at the DC Chamber chairman’s discretion and is bestowed to someone who has greatly impacted the District of Columbia and its economy during the chairman’s term.

“Dr. Gandhi is being recognized by the Chamber because of his accomplishments in improving the financial stability of the District,” said Chamber President Barbara Lang. “Under his watch, our bond rating has gone from junk status to an ‘A+’ rating, improving the city’s ability to finance major projects, attract investors and gain the confidence of the Congress that the city is on sound financial footing.”

During his tenure as CFO, Gandhi has built on the District’s financial progress by securing several rating upgrades for its general obligation bonds from the major rating agencies, including a return to an ‘A’ rating from Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings – the first ‘A’ level rating for the District since 1995 – and the first ‘A’ level rating ever from Moody’s Investors Service. Most recently, Standard and Poor’s further increased its rating for the District to ‘A+’ – the highest ever for the city’s borrowings – and Moody’s raised the District’s rating outlook to “positive” from “stable.”

Gandhi was nominated to the position of CFO by Mayor Anthony A. Williams and appointed on June 7, 2000. As the independent CFO, Gandhi is responsible for the District’s finances, including its approximately $7 billion in annual operating and capital funds. He manages more than 1,000 staff members in tax and revenue administration; the treasury, comptroller and budget offices; economic and fiscal analysis and revenue estimation functions; agency financial operations; and lottery operations.

Founded in 1938, the DC Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to improving the climate for business in the District of Columbia.