| Brief Excerpt: | ...Sovereign Ratings Relapse: Fitch Ratings marked the completion of Greeces sovereign distressed debt exchange in March-April 2012, the largest sovereign debt restructuring in history, with an upgrade of its sovereign ratings to ,,B- from ,,RD. The subsequent acute political instability raised the spectre of Greece being unable to sustain membership of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), precipitating a renewed sovereign downgrade to ,,CCC on 17 May and a lowering of the Country Ceiling to ,,B- from the eurozone wide rating of ,,AAA. Programme Realities: Fitch believes that the parlous state of the Greek economy, coupled with the fragile nature of the government, will lead the eurozone group to extend the current EU-IMF programme by two years to 2016. However, identifying the resources to fund an attendant fiscal financing gap of some EUR22bn in 2013-2016 will prove challenging, and even more so as Greek public debt dynamics continue to deteriorate. Waning Public Debt Stability: Private Sector... |
