Financial economics

 Agency chose not to revise Greece’s credit rating, retaining the country’s ‘selective default’ status

By Sotiris Nikas

Moody’s rating agency may not have changed its rating for Greece on Friday, but the markets did not appear inclined to wait for its announcement to display their own confidence in the country’s economy.

 Moody’s is expected to upgrade Greece’s credit rating on Friday

By Sotiris Nikas

Athens is set to officially announce its return to the money markets with the issuance of a five-year bond for an estimated 2-3 billion euros. Sources also suggest that the announcement could come after a likely credit rating upgrade by Moody’s over the course of Friday.

Fitch Ratings announced late on Tuesday it has revised the outlooks on four Greek covered bond programs to Positive and another to Stable.

The ratings of the five covered bonds programs have also been affirmed.

At the same time, the agency is maintaining the rating of one Cypriot covered bond program on Rating Watch Negative.

[Reuters]

Cypriot lawmakers must make it easier for banks to seize property when borrowers default to tackle the issue of bad loans, the country’s most pressing issue, central bank governor Panicos Demetriades said.

By Anchalee Worrachate

Greek and Portuguese government bonds beat their euro-region peers this quarter as the countries made progress toward returning to international credit markets.

The closing auctions helped the Greek stock market’s benchmark index to post gains of almost 1 percent on Friday, as it registered a small weekly drop of 0.21 percent.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,327.87 points, adding 0.98 percent to Thursday’s 1,314.99 points. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 expanded 1.05 percent to 428.65 points.

By Lefteris Papadimas & George Georgiopoulos

Greek banks that are majority-owned by the country's bank rescue fund HFSF will be allowed to issue new shares to boost their capital at market prices, according to a draft bill that also gives the rescue fund legal cover to see its stakes diluted.

BNP Paribas, France's largest bank by market capitalization, has announced plans to pull back from Ukraine.

Its chief financial executive Lars Machenil however added BNP does not mull leaving other countries to the east of Europe, such as Turkey and Poland, website Investor.bg reports.

 Credit sector requirements will depend on economic growth, the course of bad loans and their management

By Dimitris Kontogiannis

The Moody's ratings agency has raised its outlook for Cyprus to positive, while confirming the island's Caa3 credit rating.