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Sat, May 26 2012
Moody’s becomes latest to downgrade Greece’s credit rating
Greek prime minister George Papandreou.
Moody’s Investors Service became the latest rating agency to downgrade Greece’s credit rating, from A1 to A2, on December 22 2009.
The agency said, however, that Greece remained from being in a crisis, prompting a rally in government bonds and bank shares.
Earlier, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s handed out more severe rating cuts, to BBB Plus.
Further downgrades could be likely unless the government in Athens manages to bring Greece’s worsening budget deficit and debt burden under control. New ratings cuts would make it difficult for Greece to borrow from the European Central Bank.
Greek prime minister George Papandreou earlier announced austerity measures, a move that led to a one-day strike by left-wing trades unions.
Reacting to the Moody’s announcement, Greece’s finance ministry said that the government was determined to carry out the cost-cutting measures announced by Papandreou and was intensifying its efforts to bring about economic recovery.
The ministry said that Moody’s had noted Papandreou’s announcement of the cost-cutting measures.
On December 21, the main opposition party, the centre-right New Democracy – which lost parliamentary elections earlier this year, in which Papandreou’s Pasok won on a platform that included a vow of economic recovery – hit out at what it described as the government’s "procrastination and wrong measures" at the expense of the economy.
The agency said, however, that Greece remained from being in a crisis, prompting a rally in government bonds and bank shares.
Earlier, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s handed out more severe rating cuts, to BBB Plus.
Further downgrades could be likely unless the government in Athens manages to bring Greece’s worsening budget deficit and debt burden under control. New ratings cuts would make it difficult for Greece to borrow from the European Central Bank.
Greek prime minister George Papandreou earlier announced austerity measures, a move that led to a one-day strike by left-wing trades unions.
Reacting to the Moody’s announcement, Greece’s finance ministry said that the government was determined to carry out the cost-cutting measures announced by Papandreou and was intensifying its efforts to bring about economic recovery.
The ministry said that Moody’s had noted Papandreou’s announcement of the cost-cutting measures.
On December 21, the main opposition party, the centre-right New Democracy – which lost parliamentary elections earlier this year, in which Papandreou’s Pasok won on a platform that included a vow of economic recovery – hit out at what it described as the government’s "procrastination and wrong measures" at the expense of the economy.
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Definitely, David/Epaminondas/Koinos Nous/Dr Cornelius is sick and schizophrenic. He will come back soon to the psychiatric hospital where he should have never left...
Seriously david, still stalking greek news? your obsessions with Greece is psychotic to say the least. Why don't you go molest your ancient macedonian pretenders in skopje?
David, stop your obsession with Greece, the government in Athens is trying hard with no riots so far and even if there are riots it is none of your concern since you hold no position of power in Europe
yes my droogs Stanley Kubrik's
pionering movie about violence
=================================
Oh ill advis'd if not for love for shame.
Spare yet your own if you neglect his fame.
Least others dare to think your reale a maske
And you to govern only Heavens taske.
Valour, Religion, Friendship, Prudence dy'd
nothing metaphysical i'd rather say pious and romzantic.
Well, the simple answer is that the Uk stayed out of the Euro for all the wrong reasons, but now finds itself with far more flexibility to climb out of the economic mess because it is NOT a EuroZone member.
Greece cannot do the same thing without leaving the EuroZone...
C'est bien simple, mes enfants / Its effing well obvious, my droogs (Clockwork Orange, here we come).
Epami
Save your worries for your budget
must say old chap the deficit about 1 trillion pounds sterling that a big black hole.
thinking about devaluating the Sterling???
I do not really envy the chancellor of the echequers
position.
nobody would anyhow
Epaminonda
You are obsesed with all this!!Relax dude you are worring more than as,its redicilus what is happening to you honestly!!Everything is cool dont worrie the worst thing passed,afterall crisis exsist for years in Greece its just that now its on news,and they made it big deal!!I wish we could get out of Eurozone too,it was better with the Drachmas but it will simply never happen for many reasons!!Look stop worring about as and look the contitions in your country(probably Fyrom from what i understant)cause its tragic man honeslty and no offence ok??Merry christmas!!
Well, I don't worry too much - the UK has had a "muddle through" philosophy too on such issues in the past - but today's world can be a bit more unforgiving.
Also, in the past Greece was always able to devalue the drachma as a cure for economic ills. This option - within the EuroZone - is no longer open to it.
My personal bet is that Greece will have to exit from the Eurozone, restore the drachma at a much lower exchange rate to the $, and "muddle through" as [...]
Read the full comment it has done so many times before (as you say.)
Otherwise it will have to start taxing the Church on its properties (the first time since 1832 when the Turks last did it), and also address the problem of very widespread tax avoidance. Oh, and reduce public-administration posts too (which involves firing lots of people).
Can you really see this happening without a major riot in Athens's Omonia Square ? I can't.
Epaminondas.
In the past century when conditions were much worse than
than actually Charilaos Trikoupis
prominrent stateman of the time
said
"Η ΕΛΛΑΣ ΘΕΛΕΙ ΝΑ ΖΗΣΗ ΚΑΙ ΘΑ ΖΗΣΗ"
the lileral transpose of this
in English goes
Greece wants to exist and will
exist
so don't worry about all the Cassandra-like catastrophe bearers
The BBC domestic Radio 4 service (the channel that does serious news) featured this as a main item at 7 am this morning in the UK.
This shows interest in the situation is spreading. The BBC said that Papandreou would be forced to slaughter several "sacred cows" in order to achieve any recovery: for example, taxing Church property, dealing with the national habit of tax avoidance, and abolishing public sector jobs, where there was rampant over-manning.
This risks, of course, provoking severe civil violence (not for the first time in Greece.)
[...]
Read the full comment />
Turning to Greece's membership of the EuroZone, the BBC reported that it was unlikely (though not impossible) that Greece would be forced to leave the EuroZone and revert to the drachma, but that there was a widespread feeling amongst other EuroZone members that Greece should never have been allowed to join it in the first place.