By Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government welcomed on Saturday the latest upgrade of Greece's credit rating by Fitch.

The ratings agency upgraded on Friday Greece's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Ratings to "B-" from "CCC", with a "positive" outlook, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

According to Fitch's report, the step was made based on experts' view that the country's third adjustment program review will be completed without problems and that the EuroGroup will grant debt relief in 2018.

"The new positive outlook for the economy from the rating agencies reflects the expectations that the third review will be completed without creating instability, while the fact that there will be significant measures to alleviate Greek debt will facilitate Greece's access to markets," the Greek Finance Ministry said in an e-mailed statement on Saturday.

"The surprise step is a vote of confidence in the prospects of Greek economy. The decision will have a significant effect on markets, the Athens Stock Exchange and it will boost the return of foreign investors," Greek financial news portal "Sofokleous" commented in an article.

"Positive surprise" and "good news" were the titles of similar articles in other local financial dailies and news portals.

In July, Standard and Poor's also upgraded the prospects of Greek economy to positive giving a "B-" mark to Greece, while Moody's has also recently upgraded Greece's credit rating to "Caa2" from "Caa3", according to news portal Bankingnews.gr. Enditem

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)