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Rating Agency Downgrades Greek Bonds to "Junk" Status

   VOA News 27 April 2010
   Demonstrators  protest  against the Greek government in Athens, 27 Apr
   2010

Photo: AP

   Unemployed   school  teachers  chant  slogans  at  an  anti-government
   demonstration staged by civil servants outside the Greek Parliament in
   Athens, 27 Apr 2010.

   Europe's  debt crisis got worse Tuesday as a rating agency slashed the
   credit ratings for the Greek and Portuguese governments.
   Standard  and Poor's cut Greek long-term government bonds three levels
   to  speculative  or  "junk" status because of the "political, economic
   and  budgetary challenges" facing Athens.  The same agency downgraded
   Portugal's sovereign debt by two notches.
   S  & P said it has growing concerns about the ability of the Greek and
   Portuguese  governments  to  repay debts.  The move followed weeks of
   talks among European nations and the International Monetary Fund about
   an aid package worth as much as $60 billion for Greece.
   The  lower  rating  means  lenders  will demand higher interest rates,
   raising borrowing costs at a time when Greece and Portugal are already
   struggling with financial issues.
   The downgrades prompted Greek and Portuguese stocks to fall sharply in
   Tuesday's trading.

   [Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters,]

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