Fitch cuts Greek rating
Ratings agency Fitch cut Greece?s credit rating to junk on Friday, citing persisting doubts over the country?s ability to pull itself out of a severe debt crisis that has shaken the eurozone.
The rating agency cut Greece?s rating to BB+ from BBB- and kept it under negative outlook. Greek debt is now rated junk by all three major rating agencies.
?The downgrade acknowledges that while Greece?s economic and fiscal performance under the [European Union and International Monetary Fund] program has in many respects exceeded expectations, its heavy public debt burden renders fiscal solvency highly vulnerable to adverse shocks,? Fitch said in a statement.
In response to the downgrade, the Greek Finance Ministry said steps made on the fiscal front, reforms and the upcoming extension of the 110-billion-euro loan prove that the Fitch decision is not supported by objective criteria. The downgrade also showed the need to revise how rating agencies operate in Europe, added the ministry.
