Moody’s upgrade reflects Greek economy’s progress: Greek PM

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday hailed his country’s credit rating upgrade by Moody’s as a result of “significant” economic progress.

During a decade of economic crisis between 2008 and 2018, public debt and deficit exploded leading to soaring interest rates and ratings agencies progressively downgraded Greece’s credit rating.

With Athens on the brink of default, the Greek government got emergency loans totalling 289 billion euros from the European Union, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

In exchange, the so-called “troika” demanded across-the-board reforms including deep state spending and salary cuts, tax hikes, privatisations and other sweeping measures.

The economy contracted by more than a quarter, unemployment spiked to almost 28 per cent and skilled professionals emigrated in droves.

But Moody’s on Friday upgraded Greece’s credit rating, pulling the country out of junk territory.