| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Greece given world's lowest credit rating |
| 2011-06-15 |
| [Al Jazeera] Standard & Poor's has cut Greece's credit rating by three notches to CCC, the lowest rating of any sovereign nation in the world, as European finance ministers prepare to discuss a new aid package for the country. "The downgrade reflects our view that there is a significantly higher likelihood of one or more defaults, as defined by our criteria relating to full and timely payment, linked to efforts by official creditors to close an emerging financing gap in Greece," the US ratings agency said. The agency said it believed that Greece's recession "could well persist into 2012 and thus may further erode internal political support for the revised EU/IMF programme". Greece responded by accusing Standard & Poor's of ignoring reform efforts in Athens and European Union talks on debt aid. Al Jizz's Alan Fisher, reporting from Athens, says Greek's debt crisis is akin to a long horror programme. They had received a bail-out just over a year ago but one year later no one wants to talk about the D-word in the corridors of power. That word is default. "That's simply because Greece can't get on top of its problems. The recession has bit further and deeper than anyone expected. Greece's deficit has actually grown. It's now at $502 billion - that's about 150 per cent of its GDP," he said. European ministers are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss a new aid package that could call on private holders of Greek debt to accept delayed payment. General strike The ratings cut came days after Greece's Socialist government unveiled a new austerity programme aiming to save around $4bn in new taxes and spending cuts by 2015. The cash-strapped country is also planning to sell $1.79bn of treasury bills. But the new measures have angered labour unions, which have called a general strike for Wednesday. The walkout is expected to stop all train and ferry services, close schools and public services and leave hospitals operating with emergency staff. Protesters, who have been demonstrating peacefully outside parliament in Athens for the past three weeks, also say they will try to blockade the building, while unions are planning protest marches through the city centre. The downgrades by Standard & Poor's and other agencies have made it impossible for Greece to raise fresh loans on international markets as it struggles to fix its economy. The Moody's agency demoted Greek bonds to Caa1 on June 1, just days before the end of an audit of Greek finances by the EU, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #12 Our so-called leaders (of both parties) seem to have missed the "surplus" part, phil. :-( |
| Posted by: Barbara 2011-06-15 22:21 |
| #11 Although Keynes wasn't a Keynsian by the modern use of that term. Keynes basically argued government spending should be counter-cyclical. Which means running surpluses in the good times and spending the surplus during recessions. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2011-06-15 21:31 |
| #10 A keynesian is basically someone who thinks all the worlds economic problems can be solved by increasing the amount the state borrows to spend on the whims of bureaucrats. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2011-06-15 19:06 |
| #9 to people on-line who aren't Keynesian morons Hah? Google yields over 3 million hits for that term. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-06-15 18:27 |
| #8 to people on-line who aren't Keynesian morons Hah? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-06-15 16:40 |
| #7 I was trying to say that it's a bit late now... If you'd listened to people on-line who aren't Keynesian morons you could avoided losing lots of money. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2011-06-15 08:50 |
| #6 You aren't given a credit rating, you earn it. And Greece has. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2011-06-15 08:06 |
| #5 Hey those ratings agencies are quick of the mark... |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2011-06-15 07:59 |
| #4 #1 Well Greece owes a lot more than Haiti (also Greeks are, you know, white) |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-06-15 02:00 |
| #3 What about Zimbob? What did they do right? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2011-06-15 01:51 |
| #2 That makes the US..... where? Do we throw tires over our heads and light them now? |
| Posted by: newc 2011-06-15 01:05 |
| #1 something's fishy in Denmark.... Greece has a lower credit rating than Haiti? |
| Posted by: 746 2011-06-15 00:08 |