Greece: Standard and Poor’s lowers rating by one notch to CCC + with … – Les Echos

The rating agency highlights the uncertainty surrounding the negotiations between Greece and its international creditors. The German Finance Minister considers it unlikely to reach an agreement on the payment of new aid to Athens.

Time is running out for Greece. While Europeans are still adamant about the conditions of payment of new aid to Athens, the threat to the solvency of the country increases. This led Wednesday Standard and Poor’s to downgrade Greece by one notch from B- to CCC + and impose a negative outlook, “because of the uncertainty of protracted negotiations between the Greek government for almost three months the country’s head and official creditors. “

The rating agency points to the risk of further aggravation of the liquidity situation for countries, banks and the economy and fears as well as the situation becomes “untenable”. April 3, several Greek officials had warned that their country was short of cash and should choose this time between the repayment of € 450 million to the IMF on April 9 or pay salaries and pensions of civil servants.

A program not quite “ambitious”

Wednesday, the German Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was considered unlikely to achieve an agreement between Greece and the rest of the euro zone next week. The Greek government and its international creditors have all expressed interest in a compromise is reached, at least in outline, before the meeting of finance ministers of the euro area scheduled for April 24 in Riga. But Athens has so far not submitted a reform program likely to be accepted by his interlocutors.

Speaking before the Council of Foreign Relations in New York, Wolfgang Schäuble said that no one expected an agreement at the meeting in Riga, nor during the following weeks. “No one has the slightest clue raising hopes that we will reach an agreement on an ambitious program,” he said, adding that Tsipras government in office since late January, had “destroyed” all the economic progress made by Greece since 2011.

No contagion sign

The German minister suggested that the eurozone could withstand a Greek default on its debt, explaining that the financial markets had already incorporated all possible outcomes to the Greek crisis and no sign of contagion to other sovereigns in the euro area was noticeable.

"ArticleBody" p> In Berlin, a spokesman for the Department of Finance that it would be unrealistic to provide for the payment of a new aid package for Greece by the end of the month due to the complexity of issues to resolve. “If some feel that aid could be paid in April, I think they are wrong,” said she said.

Meeting with Obama and Draghi

The subject should obviously be discussed at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the next few days in New York, which has visit the Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. It must on this occasion to meet with the US President Barack Obama and the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, indicated its services.

The ECB continues to provide liquidity to Greek banks as part of its emergency mechanism, ELA, and Mario Draghi said Wednesday that such support would not be questioned as the banks would be insolvent.

While rumored for several days early elections in Greece, in Athens, the state minister in charge of coordinating the government project, Alekos Flabouraris, told a television channel that such a hypothesis was excluded “100%.” ​​

With AFP and Reuters