Greece’s debt rating falls out of the speculative category at Standard & Poor’s

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s raised Greece’s debt rating on Friday, taking it out of the speculative category for the first time since the 2010 debt crisis.

The rating moves from BB+/B to BBB-/A-3, putting it in the “suitable investment” category, rather than “speculative,” notes a press release from S&P, the first of the three major global rating agencies. classification and thus raise the estimate of the Greek classification.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was re-elected to a new four-year term in June, is betting politically on Greece returning to good loans.

“An important step was taken today, as Standard & Poor’s Global Agency raised Greece’s rating to investment grade,” the leader said on Friday. “We are proud to recognize our country’s achievements. We are determined to pursue our reform agenda, a path that attracts investment, creates jobs and achieves inclusive growth,” he added.

Last month, the Conservative leader told Bloomberg TV that returning to investment grade was “an important step for the country after 13 very difficult years.”

He added that the decline in borrowing costs would be “significant” for Greece’s public finances in 2024.

He also promised that Greece would maintain budget discipline and record a primary surplus of 0.7% of GDP this year. For its part, Standard & Poor’s believes that this surplus will exceed this target and rise to 1.2% of GDP.

The Prime Minister was speaking following the decision by Canada-based DBRS Morningstar on September 8 to raise Greece’s credit rating to the “investment grade” category on September 8.

During the economic crisis, Greece suffered a series of credit rating downgrades by rating agencies, which deprived it of access to international bond markets.

Greece endured eight years of austerity under three successive international bailouts worth a total of 289 billion euros ($306 billion) implemented in 2010, 2012 and 2015 to prevent the country from collapsing under the weight of debts amounting to about 300 billion euros.

Economic reforms demanded by Greece’s creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, have had a major impact, reducing gross domestic product by a quarter in eight years and pushing the unemployment rate to more than 27%. The third bailout plan ended in August 2018.

According to official data, the Greek economy grew by 5.6% in 2022.

The Greek government’s latest budget forecasts growth of 3.0% in 2024, after estimating 1.8% growth for 2023.

Standard & Poor’s estimates are 2.5% for GDP growth in 2023. The agency also welcomes that the net amount of debt should fall from 189% of GDP in 2020 to 146% this year.