O οίκος πιστοληπτικής αξιολόγησης Moody’s αναβάθμισε σήμερα το μακροπρόθεσμο αξιόχρεο της Ελλάδας στη βαθμίδα Caa2 από Caa3, με θετική από σταθερή προοπτική.

London, 23 June 2017 — Moody’s Investors Service («Moody’s») has today
upgraded Greece’s long-term issuer rating as well as all
senior unsecured bond and programme ratings to Caa2 and (P)Caa2 from Caa3
and (P)Caa3, respectively. The outlook has been changed to
positive from stable.

Greece’s short-term ratings have been affirmed, at
Not Prime (NP) and (P)NP.

The key drivers for today’s rating action are as follows:

1. Successful conclusion of the second review under Greece’s
adjustment programme and release of a tranche of €8.5 billion
in the coming days. Beyond the near-term impact of allowing
Greece to repay upcoming maturities, we consider the conclusion
of the review to be a positive signal regarding the future path of the
programme, as it required the Greek government to legislate a number
of important reform measures.

2. Improved fiscal prospects on the back of 2016 fiscal outperformance,
expected to lead soon to a reversal in the country’s public debt
ratio trend. The government posted a 2016 primary surplus of over
4% of GDP versus a target of 0.5% of GDP.
Moody’s expects the public debt ratio to stabilize this year at
179% of GDP, and to decline from 2018 onwards, on the
back of continued substantial primary surpluses.

3. Tentative signs of the economy stabilizing. While it
is too early to conclude that economic growth will be sustained,
Moody’s expects to see growth this year and next, after three
years of stagnation and a cumulative loss in output of more than 27%
since the onset of Greece’s crisis.

The decision to assign a positive outlook to the Caa2 rating reflects
Moody’s view that the prospects for a successful conclusion of Greece’s
third adjustment programme have improved, which in turn raises the
likelihood of further debt relief. The euro area creditors have
committed to further extend Greece’s repayment terms to the EFSF
(European Financial Stability Facility; senior unsecured Aa1 stable)
if needed after August 2018 when the programme ends. Later repayment
to official creditors would improve Greece’s capacity to service
debt held by private sector investors, to which Moody’s ratings
speak.

The long-term country ceilings for foreign-currency and
local-currency bonds have been raised to B3 from Caa2, to
reflect the reduced risk of Greece exiting the euro area, and the
long-term ceiling for foreign-currency and local-currency
deposits has been raised to Caa2 from Caa3. Moody’s maintains
a two-notch gap between the bond and the deposit ceilings to reflect
the ongoing capital controls. The short-term foreign-currency
bond and bank deposit ceilings remain unchanged at Not Prime (NP).