Greek Debt Problem Isn’t Much Worse Than Italy’s, Nomura Says
Greece’s debt situation isn’t much worse than Italy’s even after downgrades to its credit ratings in the past month, Nomura Holdings Inc. economist Peter Westaway said.
“If we look at public-sector debt and interest payments, Greece isn’t doing particularly worse than Italy,” Westaway, a former Bank of England official, told reporters at a briefing in London today. “The concern of an imminent default is overblown.”
Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings all lowered their ratings on Greece’s debt in December. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou this week rejected speculation the country will need a bailout to tackle the budget deficit, the biggest in the European Union no teletrack payday loans.
“We believe a default is still some way away,” said Westaway. “There are fiscal issues that need to be addressed but it’s really a pan-European thing.”
Greece has pledged to cut its deficit to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product this year from 12.7 percent in 2009 and push it below the European Union’s 3 percent limit by 2012.
Filed under: technology by Specialist