First Greece, then Ireland and Portugal will be restructured. Default. Default. Default. Then its Spain's turn. Viva La Revolucion Bailout!
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LONDON (MarketWatch) — Fitch Ratings lowered Greece’s credit rating further into junk status Friday, and warned it would consider any attempt to extend the maturities of Greek sovereign debt to be a default.
The ratings company cut Greece’s long-term rating to B-plus from BB-plus and placed all ratings on Rating Watch Negative, citing the scale of the nation’s fiscal task as it attempts to achieve solvency and provide a foundation for economic growth. Fitch warned it would consider any move to extend the maturity of Greece’s existing bonds as a “default event,” and would rate Greece and its obligations accordingly.
“The market was surprised because some people have been trying to argue that re-profiling, or lengthening Greece’s maturities, wouldn’t be a default event. Now Fitch says it would be a default,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman.