Greek government debt raised to investment grade by Moody's, closing the door on a painful era

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s center-right government on Saturday welcomed a credit rating upgrade by Moody’s, the last major ratings agency to lift junk status on government bonds that began 15 years ago during a severe debt crisis.

“(This) upgrade marks the closing of a great cycle for the Greek economy and certifies the country’s return to European normality,” Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said, describing the action as “a success not only of the government, but of all Greeks.”

Moody’s announced the upgrade to Baa3 from Ba1 late Friday. It cited public finances that “have improved more quickly than we had expected” as a key factor in its decision.

The agency highlighted the government’s policy stance, institutional improvements and stable political environment, saying it expects Greece to “continue to run substantial primary surpluses which will steadily decrease its high debt burden."

Although ratings agencies began returning Greece to investment grade in late 2023, the good news was met with relief by a government that has been hammered for weeks by strikes and protests over its handing of a deadly rail disaster two years ago.

Hatzidakis made the remarks hours before handing over the portfolio to Cabinet colleague Kyriakos Pierrakakis at a swearing-in ceremony later Saturday, a day after the government announced a reshuffle.

“Moody’s upgrade of Greece to Baa3 marks the final step in restoring our investment grade by all major rating agencies, highlighting Greece’s significant progress,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an online post Saturday.

“We remain fully committed to reforms that attract investment, create jobs, and drive sustainable growth,” he said.

Greece spiraled into crisis in 2010 and received three international bailouts to avoid bankruptcy and repair its public finances through successive and grueling austerity programs imposed by European Union lenders and the International Monetary Fund.

National debt as a percentage of gross domestic product peaked in 2020, rising above 200%, but has been steadily falling since and is expected to drop below 150% this year, according to Greek central bank projections.

Moody’s praised the government’s ongoing debt reduction efforts.

“Over a number of years, the Greek public finances have outperformed our baseline expectations, which increases our confidence that Greek debt will remain on a firm downward path,” it said.

“These improvements are due to both ongoing expenditure restraint and tax revenues that are rising quickly in light of ongoing institutional improvements in tax compliance and collection.”

Greek President Konstantinos Tasoulas, right, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attend a swearing in ceremony at the Presidential palace, in Athens, Greece, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Greece's government newly appointed members pose for a family photograph following a swearing in ceremony at the Presidential palace, in Athens, Greece, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Greece's newly appointed deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis signs a document following a swearing in ceremony at the Presidential palace, in Athens, Greece, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Newly appointed Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, centre, stands between Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, left, and Minister of Education Sofia Zacharaki, during a swearing in ceremony at the Presidential palace, in Athens, Greece, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Newly appointed members of Greece's government following a reshuffle, take the oath during a swearing in ceremony at the Presidential palace, in Athens, Greece, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

FILE - Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, speaks with National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis during a parliament session in Athens, Greece, Saturday, July 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis, File)

COSTA NAVARINO, Greece (AP) — The IOC is the undisputed champion of running the most tightly managed sports election, one compared by veteran Olympic watchers to a conclave to pick a pope.

Some of the seven presidential candidates in the contest on Thursday have aired frustrations with getting limited access to their fellow International Olympic Committee members during a five-month campaign. The voters themselves will get minimal updates between rounds of casting secret ballots on election day.

“It has been difficult to engage,” one leading contender, Sebastian Coe, told reporters last week before heading to Greece. “In future, this just needs to be a more open and expansive process. I think the membership deserves that.”

Those members are as quirky and curious a collective as the sets of IOC election rules that bind them.

Among the 109 eligible voters in the IOC’s invited and exclusive club are royal family members, including the Emir of Qatar, former lawmakers and diplomats, business leaders including billionaires, present and past Olympic athletes plus Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.

Only IOC members can stand as candidates and a long-time perception has been that outgoing president Thomas Bach has promoted a protégé he hopes will win — even if playing a favorite would seem to breach political neutrality the Olympic movement holds dear.

Bach declined to be drawn in detail on Monday when asked if he intervened with voters on behalf of Kirsty Coventry, the two-time swimming gold medalist from Zimbabwe. She would be the first woman and first African president in the IOC’s 131-year history.

“What I felt obliged to say about the profile of my successor I have said in Paris," said Bach, whose hands-on executive presidency ends formally in June after the term-limited 12 years.

Seven months ago at the Paris Olympics, Bach said “new times are calling for new leaders,” citing the need for a successor immersed in a “technological tsunami” of the digital world.

“I have nothing to add to this,” he said on Monday. He spoke at a news conference after chairing a meeting of his executive board that includes three of the seven candidates, including Coventry.

Coventry is the only woman in the race and just the second-ever female candidate to lead the IOC. A win on Thursday for the sports minister of Zimbabwe would add to Bach’s legacy of gender equality policies.

“I don’t feel that he is out campaigning for me,” she told reporters in an online call in January, adding she “had a good relationship with President Bach since 2013.”

IOC election rules barred candidates from publishing campaign videos, organizing public meetings or taking part in public debates. Voters could not publicly endorse their pick.

Candidates were allowed to write a manifesto the IOC published on the same day in December, then make just one official presentation to their voters at Olympic headquarters in January. Voters could not ask any questions after each 15-minute presentation that was not broadcast.

“If I was the president I think I’d be a little more flexible,” Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan said that day in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The seven candidates have no official media event before Thursday’s vote, though all will go on Tuesday to nearby Ancient Olympia. A formal ceremony there with a Bach speech opens an election gathering that runs through Friday.

The IOC will cut the online stream of its meeting at a resort hotel when the election process starts on Thursday at about 4 p.m. in Greece (1400 GMT). Members will have their phones and tablets collected and stored.

Most IOC staff must leave the room so only voters and essential election monitors stay. When a winner emerges the doors will open, the streamed broadcast turned back on and the announcement made.

About 100 members should be present and eligible in the first round to cast electronic votes. Candidates can vote but any compatriot is excluded for as long as they stay in the contest.

One of the expected strong contenders, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, can vote for himself but his fellow Spaniard Pau Gasol, the two-time NBA champion, cannot.

“Members should vote for what they believe is best for the Olympic movement," Samaranch said on Monday in a statement. “It is not about personalities or friendships. And it is definitely not about identity politics.”

The winner must get an absolute majority that likely will not happen in the first round. Several rounds could be needed. Until there is a winner, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. If there is a tie for the lowest total, a runoff vote between them will decide who is eliminated.

However, voters will not be told the totals for each candidate after each round. Instead, Bach “will announce only the name of the candidate who will not participate in the following round of voting,” the IOC rules state.

Bach “will not exercise his right to vote but he reserves his right to exercise a casting vote.”

The next IOC president — just the 10th ever — will take office on Olympic Day, June 23, at a ceremony in Lausanne.

AP Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach leaves after a press conference, ahead of the 144th session which will elect the new IOC President, in Costa Navarino, southwestern Greece, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

FILE - Candidate to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior speaks during a press conference following a presentation before their fellow IOC members in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Candidate to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sebastian Coe speaks during a press conference following a presentation before their fellow IOC members in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Jan 30, 2025 (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, left, and IOC member and former swimmer Kirsty Coventry, right, speak during a press conference after the executive board meeting of the IOC, at the Olympic House, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, File)

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speaks during a press conference, ahead of the 144th session which will elect the new IOC President, in Costa Navarino, southwestern Greece, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)