Greece wins new credit rating boost that stops short of restoring Greek bonds to investment grade

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s economy has received a substantial vote of confidence from Moody’s ratings agency, which has upgraded the Greek credit rating by two notches. But the agency stopped just short of returning the formerly struggling country to formal financial respectability. Moody’s said late Friday it was upgrading Greece’s rating from Ba3 to Ba1, with a stable outlook. But that still leaves the country’s bonds one notch shy of investment grade, which would clear the way for purchasers by many major global investors.