Fitch ratings agency downgraded debt-crippled Greece deeper into junk territory on Thursday, warning of a “probable” Greek exit from the euro currency union if new national elections next month produce an anti-bailout government. Fitch said it had cut Greece’s rating by one notch, from B- to CCC, the lowest possible grade for a country that is not in default. [AP]
Greece doesn't need any of you! Greece's finance minister on Thursday denied a report citing the country's representative to the IMF as saying Athens would need a third bailout package. The euro weakened against the dollar on the report, which was later also denied by the official quoted in the article and came as international inspectors are mulling handing over the next tranche of Greece's second aid package. "The country's positions are formulated by the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister," Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told Reuters in response to the Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal report. The article quoted Thanos Catsambas, Alternate Executive Director at the IMF Executive Board representing Greece, as saying the country would need a third bailout from European creditors. It also reported Greece could not bridge a funding gap and had met only 22 percent of targets for the second bailout...Catsambas issued a statement saying the article included "at least three important inaccuracies". [Reuters]