02.05.2012

By Simon Miller

Greece has been lifted out of default territory following the biggest sovereign debt restructure in financial history.

Standard & Poor's has rised the country's credit rating to the low-speculative grade of CCC with a stable outlook but the agency warned the there were still risks to Greece.

"While the exchange has, in our view, alleviated near-term funding pressures, Greece's sovereign debt burden remains high," the ratings agency said as it warned that the recession and the 6 May election posed risks to the fiscal adjustments needed for cutting Greece's debt.

It added: "The ratings could be lowered if we believe that there is a likelihood of a distressed exchange on Greece's remaining stock of commercial debt."

S&P's action follows Fitch Ratings' decision to upgrade Greece to speculative B-rating in March following the €100bn (£0.816bn) restructure.