Moody's downgrade 'completely unjustified': Athens

Greece condemned the rating downgrade announced by Moody's Investors Service on Monday, saying it was "completely unjustified" and did not properly reflect the true state of affairs."The rating downgrade announced by Moody's today is completely unjustified as it does not reflect an objective and balanced assessment of the conditions Greece is presently facing," the finance ministry said in a statement.The finance ministry also blasted the rating agencies as a whole.

Bailed-out Greece reacted furiously to Moody’s decision to slash its credit ratings on Monday, only days before a crucial summit of eurozone leaders to discuss plans for a permanent debt rescue system

from Dean Baker The media have been bombarding the public with scare stories about the country's "record" budget deficits. Newspapers and news shows that never bothered to mention the growth of the $8 trillion housing bubble that eventually crashed the economy are giving us an endless barrage of stories claiming that current and projected future deficits will bankrupt our grandchildren.

European Union moves to set up a permanent rescue mechanism to bolster the euro are unlikely to satisfy sceptical markets anticipating more trouble and bailouts to come, analysts warned Friday.At a summit Thursday, leaders of the 27-nation bloc agreed on a permanent emergency rescue fund from mid-2013 to replace a one-trillion-dollar joint EU-IMF facility set up after the Greek debt crisis hit the eurozone in May.

Moody's took away the UK's triple A rating late Friday. A ratings downgrade has long been rumored, and although the timing is always surprising, the move itself has long been anticipated. Sterling slumped on the news in thin dealings, losing a cent in about 30 minutes.  

Just the headline for now: MOODY’S DOWNGRADES UK’S GOVERNMENT BOND RATING TO Aa1 FROM AAA Someone must have clued Moody's on the fact that the UK is about to have its very own Goldman banker, which means consolidated debt/GDP will soon need four digits. In other news, every lawyer in the UK is now celebrating because come Monday Moody's will be sued to smithereens.

Last week's summit of EU leaders in Brussels brought the "right answers" to the problems facing the eurozone, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has told a German newspaper.In an interview to be published on Sunday in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Schaeuble said: "The Brussels summit brought the right answers to the problems facing" eurozone members.EU leaders had established "a clear plan for growth" in 2013, he said.