2013 between the Company and the syndicate of banks, the facility matures November 1, 2017, with a one-year extension option exercisable through October 31, 2014. No amounts were outstanding under this facility as of May 31, 2014 or 2013. 

We currently have long-term debt ratings of AA- and A1 from Standard and Poor’s Corporation and Moody’s Investor Services, respectively. If our long- term debt rating were to decline, the facility fee and interest rate under our committed credit facility would increase. Conversely, if our long-term debt rating were to improve, the facility fee and interest rate would decrease. Changes in our long-term debt rating would not trigger acceleration of maturity of any then-outstanding borrowings or any future borrowings under the committed credit facility. Under this committed revolving credit facility, we have agreed to various covenants. These covenants include limits on our disposal of fixed assets, the amount of debt secured by liens we may incur, as well as a minimum capitalization ratio. In the event we were to have any borrowings outstanding under this facility and failed to meet any covenant, and were unable to obtain a waiver from a majority of the banks in the syndicate, any borrowings would become immediately due and payable. As of May 31, 2014, we were in full compliance with each of these covenants and believe it is unlikely we will fail to meet any of these covenants in the foreseeable future. 

Liquidity is also provided by our $1 billion commercial paper program. During the year ended May 31, 2014, we did not issue commercial paper, and as of May 31, 2014, there were no outstanding borrowings under this program. We may continue to issue commercial paper or other debt securities during fiscal 2015 depending on general corporate needs. We currently have short-term debt ratings of A1+ and P1 from Standard and Poor’s Corporation and Moody’s Investor Services, respectively. 

As of May 31, 2014, we had cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaling $5.1 billion, of which $2.5 billion was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Cash equivalents and short-term investments consist primarily of deposits held at major banks, money market funds, commercial paper, corporate notes, U.S. Treasury obligations, U.S. government sponsored enterprise obligations, and other investment grade fixed income securities. Our fixed income investments are exposed to both credit and interest rate risk. All of our investments are investment grade to minimize our credit risk. While individual securities have varying durations, as of May 31, 2014 the average duration of our short-term investments and cash equivalents portfolio was 126 days. 

To date we have not experienced difficulty accessing the credit markets or incurred higher interest costs. Future volatility in the capital markets, however, may increase costs associated with issuing commercial paper or other debt instruments or affect our ability to access those markets. We believe that existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and cash generated by operations, together with access to external sources of funds as described above, will be sufficient