[Reuters] Fitch says Greece to default, believes will be orderly
STOCKHOLM, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Rating agency Fitch said
on Tuesday that Greece would default on its debt, although it
said that such a default was likely to take place in an orderly
manner.
"It is going to happen. Greece is insolvent so it will
default," Edward Parker, Managing Director for Fitch's Sovereign
and Supranational Group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa
told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the Swedish
capital.
"So in that sense it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone."
The Fitch comments come after Moritz Kraemer, head of
Standard & Poor's rating agency's European sovereign ratings
unit, said on Monday Greece would default shortly on its debt
obligations.
Parker said that Fitch believed that even a voluntary
agreement by private investors to take a haircut on Greek debt
would constitute a default.
"We have said for a long time that we don't think this PSI
is the way to go and we would treat it as a default. It clearly
is a default, however they try to spin it," he said.
Parker said the worst result would would be a disorderly
default.
"That, would be, for us, the really damaging situation, but
one which we are certainly not expecting to happen because,
clearly, in a rational situation you would think Greek
politicians and European policy makers would ensure that it
doesn't happen."
(Reporting by Simon Johnson; editing by Stephen Nisbet)
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Keywords: FITCH GREECE
