Greece Wins Credit Rating Boost From Moody’s

Greece's economy received a substantial vote of confidence late on Friday from Moody's ratings agency.

Moody's upgraded Greece's rating from Ba3 to Ba1, with a stable outlook, but it remains one notch below investment grade.

Moody's upgraded the Greek credit rating by two notches but stopped just short of returning the formerly struggling country to formal financial respectability, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).

Moody's upgraded Greece's rating from Ba3 to Ba1, with a stable outlook, but it remains one notch below investment grade, which would enable purchases by many major global investors.

Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis stated that the upgrade was "mainly proof that the government must remain committed to a prudent fiscal policy," combined with "sensitivity" to social issues.

The last time Moody's upgraded Greece's rating was in November 2020. In 2010, at the height of the financial crisis that led to three international bailouts in exchange for severe spending cuts, tax hikes, and economic reforms, the agency had downgraded the country's bonds to non-investment, or junk, status.

DBRS, Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch are the four ratings agencies considered by the European Central Bank, with the latter two expected to recalibrate Greece's sub-investment grade rating by the end of the year.

Moody's noted that the center-right government's parliamentary majority following the June elections "provides a high degree of political and policy certainty for the coming four years, fostering the ongoing implementation of past reforms and the design of further structural reforms."

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