Aberdeen City Council is considering issuing bonds as an innovative way to raise extra cash, its leader said.
The Labour-led administration is the first local authority in Scotland to look at the measure, but leader Jenny Laing claimed it is the lowest funded council in the country.
Councils rely on the Scottish Government for the bulk of their budget, with local authority chiefs complaining pressures on public spending have hit them hard.
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The credit ratings agency Moody's has awarded Aberdeen City Council an AA2 rating.
Ms Laing told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We have great ambitions for the city of Aberdeen and we want to maintain the economic growth we've seen over recent decades.
"In order to do that we need to invest in infrastructure and I think we've proved as the lowest funded council in Scotland that we're always looking for innovative ways in which we can make sure we can secure that revenue that will allow us to invest in that transformational programme.
"We've entered into a process at the moment which may lead to us issuing bonds, but we want to make sure we protect our budgets and the services the people of Aberdeen rely on as we move forward."
Read more: UK Government 'faces £84bn Brexit-related black hole'
Ms Laing added: "Applying for the credit rating was also about us demonstrating to the outside world just how secure a financial footing Aberdeen is on. It's not all that long ago, you only have to go back seven or eight years, when budgets in Aberdeen were out of control, the Accounts Commission were in telling the Liberal Democrat and SNP administration that they may be removed and external advisers brought in to run the city.
"I think the credit rating we have been rewarded proves we have moved significantly forward."
She stressed: "Any time that councils are borrowing money we've got to be mindful it is within our means, you wouldn't expect us to enter into something like this without having the proper advice and guidance, and that is what we've done.
Read more: UK Government 'faces £84bn Brexit-related black hole'
"We'll make sure that the people of Aberdeen and the finances are protected no matter what decisions we take."
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