On Thursday, CNBC reported that in an interview with Ray Dalio, the founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, he said that he believes the United States is on the path to a debt crisis, and he is closely watching the “risky” fiscal situation.

In the interview, Dalio said, “How fast it transpires, I think, is going to be a function of that supply-demand issue, so I’m watching that very closely.”

Following a period of political brinksmanship earlier in the year around the debt limit which brought the US close to default, the nation’s debt has been a center of focus for analysts for the last several months.

Analysts noted that although the crisis was averted, the nation’s fiscal reputation is impacted by such partisan conflicts, which imply that whether the nation’s debts are paid may depend on the bipartisanship of Republicans and Democrats.

Citing a fiscal deterioration over the next three years, and repeating debt ceiling negotiations which are not resolved until the last possible second, ratings agency Fitch downgraded the US credit rating one notch from the top tier.

In addition, the coming potential government shutdown could further add to the financial chaos that is impacting the nation’s credit rating. Moody’s, another credit rating agency, issued a stern warning that a government shutdown would harm the government’s credit rating.