Moody's downgrades Greece to lowest rating

 　　LONDON/NEW YORK, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The rating agency Moody¹'s on Friday cut the sovereign credit rating of Greece to the lowest level, saying the country's default risk was high.

　　Moody's downgraded Greece long term sovereign credit rating from "Ca" to "C" , the lowest credit rating level on its bond scale, meaning the debt is in default.

　　The rating decision "was prompted by the recently announced debt exchange proposals for Greece, which imply expected losses to investors² in excess of 70 percent, which is consistent with Moody's criteria³ for a C rating," said a report issued on its website.

　　"Moody's decision not to assign an outlook to the rating is based on the very high likelihood of a default by the Greek government on its bonds and the fact that C is the lowest rating on Moody's rating scale," according to the rating agency.

　　In a similar move on Monday, Standard & Poor's cut Greece's "CC" long-term and "C" short-term sovereign credit ratings to "selective default"(SD), after the debt-laden country launched a bond swap⁴ plan to ease its debt burden last week.

　　Greece formally launched the bond swap program a week ago, under which, bondholders are to take losses of 53.5 percent on the nominal⁵ value of their Greek bonds, with actual losses put at around 75 percent.

　　Greece has suffered from debt problems for years. It had been relying on bailout funds from International organizations since May 2010. However, the first round rescue funds were not enough to prevent the country from defaulting, European leaders had agreed to provide a second bailout funds, totaling 130 billion euros.

　　In order to receive the funds, Greece has to undergo fiscal⁶ austerity, which had already faced strong opposition⁷ from Greek civilians⁸.

　　Moody' s said the debt swap will incur⁹ "substantial economic losses" on private creditors¹⁰' holdings of the Greek government debt.

1 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

4 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

5 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

9 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。

10 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》