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Standard & Poor’s hikes Greek rating by 6 notches

By Nicholas Paphitis
Published December 18, 2012 9:24pm ET
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Standard & Poor’s hikes Greek rating by 6 notches
Athenians chat outside a bank as they shelter from a rainfall in central Athens, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Greece is failing to collect the tax it is owed and is in danger of missing key targets that need to be met to reduce the government's staggering debt pile, the European Union warned on Monday. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) | Petros Giannakouris

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Standard & Poor’s ratings agency on Tuesday upgraded Greece’s credit grade by 6 notches, yanking the debt-heavy country out of default but still keeping its devalued bonds in junk status.

The agency said the upgrade to B- — the highest grade it has given Greece since June 2011 — reflected its view that the other 16 European Union countries using the euro are determined to keep Greece inside the currency union.

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