Spain’s improving economy has earned it a widely-expected upgrade from Standard and Poor’s.<br /><br />Madrid’s credit rating was raised one notch to triple B from triple B minus.<br /><br />Two other agencies, Moody’s and Fitch, have also issued upgrades in recent weeks. <br /><br />S&P said that reflects its view of “improving economic growth and competitiveness as a result of Spain’s structural reform efforts since 2010”. <br /><br />S&P also raised its GDP growth projections for Spain over the next couple of years. <br /><br />Greece upgraded but still ‘highly speculative’<br /><br />Fitch has put up its rating on debt-laden Greece to B from B minus with a stable outlook. <br /><br />It also praised Athen’s improving fiscal track record and said the Greek economy is likely to grow this year after six years of recession. <br /><br />Fitch is the most optimistic agency on the country which defaulted just two years ago, although it still classes Greece’s government bonds as “highly speculative”.<br /><br />The new Fitch rating is still five levels below investment grade.<br /><br />Greece sparked Europe’s debt crisis in 2009. It was given a 240 billion euro bailout in 2010 in return for budget cuts and harsh austerity measures which led to a rapid rise in poverty and unemployment.<br /><br />The EU and IMF, who lent the money, said Greece had achieved a key target of making a primary budget surplus in 2013. That is tax revenues exceeded state spending, ignoring Greece’s vast debts.
