Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras Expresses Optimism for Greece’s Return to Investment-Grade Status

Bloomberg reported that Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras is “quite optimistic” that his country will regain investment-grade status soon after its new government lays out its plans.

“We had elections a few days ago; there is a stable government now with a strong parliamentary majority,” Stournaras said Wednesday in a Bloomberg TV interview in Sintra, Portugal. “This government wants to do reforms, so I’m sure that after the declarations that the government will make in parliament, investment grade will be a matter of a few weeks if not days.”

Greece’s rating was cut to junk in 2010 when it received its first bailout. The country also dropped to the selective default category when it restructured its debt in 2012.

It’s now eying a return on investment. Fitch Ratings, S&P Global Ratings, DBRS Morningstar and Scope Ratings all currently have Greek debt just one notch below that. Moody’s has it three steps away but said immediately after Prime Minister’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis win in Sunday’s vote that his reelection is a credit-positive event.