S&P raises Greece’s credit rating to B- from CCC+, stable outlook

Standard & Poors raised on Friday its long-term sovereign credit rating on Greece to ‘B-‘ from ‘CCC+’, with a stable outlook, citing the country’s cpmliance with its economic program.

“The upgrade reflects our assessment that the Greek government is broadly complying with the terms of its €86 billion financial support program financed by eurozone member states via the European Stability Mechanism (ESM),” the rating agency said in its press release.

S&P also noted that despite differences between the government and its creditors, it expects Greece to meet the conditions attached to its €86 billion financial support program by the end of March, which will open the way for discussions on official debt relief.

It also said that since last summer, the Greek government has recapitalized the country’s systemic banks, and put into place budgetary consolidation measures. “Despite multiple shocks, the economy has proved more resilient than we had previously expected,” the report says.

S&P said Greek public debt will rise to 187.4% of GDP in 2016, mainly because it projects no nominal GDP growth this year, but also because the government plans to make just over 3% of GDP (€5.5 billion) in arrears payments, as well as to finance a deficit of just under 3% of GDP.

The stable outlook, the company said, indicates “our view that, over the next 12 months, risks to our ‘B-‘ rating are balanced.”