Credit ratings agency Fitch revised Greece’s outlook to “positive” from “stable” on Friday, citing improvements in the country’s budget surplus and a sharp decline in public debt.
The nation’s debt — the highest in the euro zone — has shrunk by more than 40 percentage points since 2020, reaching 154% of its gross domestic product in 2024, and is projected to drop further by the end of this year.
“We expect the rapid debt decline to continue over the medium term,” Fitch said in a statement.
Greece’s debt crisis began in 2009 after the government revealed a major budget gap caused by years of tax evasion and overspending and inaccurate fiscal reporting, shaking market confidence.
Between 2010 and 2015, Greece received 280 billion euros in bailouts from euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund. The country paid off the IMF in 2022 and by the end of 2024 had repaid 22 billion euros of its first bailout. The rest is due by 2031.
While many Greeks continue to face lower wages and high inflation more than a decade after the crisis, the economy has bounced back, with the government expecting 2.3% growth this year, more than double the euro zone’s average.
Fitch affirmed the country’s rating at “BBB-“.
($1 = 0.8958 euros)