Moody’s Latest Cut Puts Greece in Debt Rating Hall of Shame
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Greece entered a league of debt-market pariahs when Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its credit rating to Caa1, leaving only Ecuador as a worse sovereign risk. Ecuador, now Caa2, defaulted in 1999 and again in 2008.
Caa1, four steps above Moody’s lowest rating and 16 from the highest, marked a brief stop for Argentina in 2001 on its way to default and devaluation. In 1998, Pakistan was cut to Caa1 after its nuclear-bomb tests isolated it internationally. Cuba, battered by a U.S. embargo and mounting debt to foreign exporters, has had the same rating since 1999.