Fitch Cuts Greece To ‘CCC’ On Possible EMU Exit

Posted on : May 17, 2012 By
Current Events Economics 

By Sue Chang | From MarketWatch.com | On Thursday, May 17th, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Fitch Ratings on Thursday downgraded Greece’s sovereign rating to CCC from B- due to heightened risk that Greece may have to exit the Economic and Monetary Union. The strong showing of political parties opposing austerity in the recent election and the failure of the parties to form a government underscores the lack of national support for the E.U.-IMF bailout program, Fitch said. “In the event that the new general elections scheduled for June 17 fail to produce a government with a mandate to continue with the E.U.-IMF program of fiscal austerity and structural reform, an exit of Greece from EMU would be probable,” said Fitch in a statement. A Greek exit from the EMU is likely to result in defaults in the private sector as well as sovereign euro-denominated obligations, the ratings agency said. Triple-C grade is categorized as “poor quality” with possibility of default.

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The original article was posted at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fitch-cuts-greece-to-ccc-on-possible-emu-exit-2012-05-17

EDITOR’S NOTE: According to Wikipedia, A CCC bond rating means: An obligor is CURRENTLY VULNERABLE, and is dependent upon favourable business, financial, and economic conditions to meet its financial commitments. According to Fitch, anything below a B/B- has reached junk bond status.

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