S&P raised Greece’s rating by a notch to ‘BB’ on Friday, citing hopes of a rapid improvement in the country’s economic and budgetary performance as the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic subside. Under a multi-billion-euro coronavirus recovery package agreed by the leaders of the European Union last year, Athens is to get 19.4 billion euros in grants and 12.7 billion euros in cheap loans in coming years, equal to about 16% of its gross domestic product. Greece’s government benefits from substantial fiscal buffers and the economy will receive an additional stimulus from upcoming grants and loans from the Next Generation EU agreement, the ratings agency said.
