Fitch Ratings on Friday evening (Athens time) revised the outlook on Greece’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) to positive from stable and affirmed the latter at ‘BBB-‘.
The driver behind the decision, according to the international credit ratings agency, were a budget surplus of 1.3% of GDP in 2024 and a primary budget surplus of 4.8%, with the latter exceeding the government’s initial target of 1%.
The result exceeded Fitch’s expectation and marked a notable improvement from a 1.4% deficit in 2023. The result also compared favorably with the current ‘BBB’ median deficit of 3.7%.
According to Fitch, the over-performance reflected structural fiscal improvements, especially better tax collection from previous measures and a tight control of expenditures. The agency also forecast budget surpluses in 2025 and 2026, albeit below 1%. In April 2025, the government announced a fiscal easing of roughly one billion euros (0.5% of GDP) to boost investment and support pensioners and home renters.
Source: tovima.com
