Brussels, 15/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 14 May, the Fitch credit rating agency raised the credit rating of Greece's sovereign debt by one notch from CCC to B- with “stable prospects.”
Noting clear progress towards eliminating the budget deficit and current account deficit, along with measures to put the Greek debt on a sustainable trajectory, Fitch says the Greek economy, based on solid implementation of the programme, is in the process of being rebalanced. Fitch says that the danger of exit from the eurozone has receded, but there is still doubt about the economy's ability to pick up.
Fitch says the sustainability of the Greek debt is still far from assured and will depend on the economic recovery and a sustained budget surplus. Fitch says it is prepared to consider a potential partial default by institutional creditors and warns against any domestic or foreign shock, particularly contagion from the Cypriot crisis. The Greek finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, hopes the country will be able to return to the financial markets by the end of 2014, but the troika of lenders (the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF) feels that it might be a few years yet before that is possible. (EL/transl.fl)