Greece credit rating slashed to 'worst in world'

Greece's credit rating has been cut to the lowest level of any nation after Standard & Poor's warned that the danger of a default by the country has risen significantly.

Plans to bridge the country's funding gap are likely to result in "one or more defaults", the agency said as it lowered Greece's rating to CCC from B. The move leaves Greece with a worse rating than Ecuador and Pakistan, the Times reports. Yesterday, S&P warned efforts to push some of the burden of the Greek crisis on to the private sector were likely to impose terms less favourable than the debt being refinanced. It said: "The downgrade reflects our view that there is a significantly higher likelihood of one or more defaults, as defined by our criteria relating to full and timely pay...