Default Worries: Fitch cuts Greece’s rating

WASHINGTON: Ratings firm Fitch cut Greece’s credit rating amid worries that the eurozone country is running perilously close to defaulting on its sovereign debt. Fitch lowered Greece’s rating by two notches to the high-risk level of ‘CCC’ from ‘B,’ but said that nevertheless it expected the government would survive its cash squeeze. “Lack of market access, uncertain prospects of timely disbursement from official institutions, and tight liquidity conditions in the domestic banking sector have put extreme pressure on Greek government funding,” said Fitch in a statement. “We expect that the government will survive the current liquidity squeeze without running arrears on debt obligations, but the heightened risks have led us to downgrade the ratings.” The rating downgrade came as the new anti-austerity Greek government raced to reach a deal with its EU and IMF creditors by next month before state coffers run dry.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2015.

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