High-yield Debt - European Sovereign Debt Crisis

European Sovereign Debt Crisis

See also: European sovereign debt crisis

On 27 April 2010, the Greek debt rating was decreased to "junk" status by Standard & Poor's amidst fears of default by the Greek Government. They also cut Portugal's credit ratings by two notches to A, over concerns about its state debt and public finances on 28 April. On 5 July 2011, Portugal's rating was decreased to "junk" status by Moody's (by four notches from Baa1 to Ba2) saying there was a growing risk the country would need a second bail-out before it was ready to borrow money from financial markets again, and private lenders might have to contribute.

On 13 July 2012, Moody's cut Italy's credit rating two notches, to Baa2 (leaving it just above junk). Moody's warned the country it could be cut further.

Read more about this topic:  High-yield Debt

Famous quotes containing the words european, sovereign, debt and/or crisis:

    “So in Jamaica it is the aim of everybody to talk English, act English and look English. And that last specification is where the greatest difficulties arise. It is not so difficult to put a coat of European culture over African culture, but it is next to impossible to lay a European face over an African face in the same generation.”
    —Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)

    “Chance, my dear, is the sovereign deity in child-bearing.”
    —Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)

    “The debt was the most sacred obligation incurred during the war. It was by no means the largest in amount. We do not haggle with those who lent us money. We should not with those who gave health and blood and life. If doors are opened to fraud, contrive to close them. But don’t deny the obligation, or scold at its performance.”
    —Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    “The people of the United States have been fortunate in many things. One of the things in which we have been most fortunate has been that so far, due perhaps to certain basic virtues in our traditional ways of doing things, we have managed to keep the crisis of western civilization, which has devastated the rest of the world and in which we are as much involved as anybody, more or less at arm’s length.”
    —John Dos Passos (1896–1970)