Moody's Investors Service this morning slashed its Greek credit ratings by three notches from Ba1 to B1 and warned that they could be downgraded further given the risks to the country's stabilisation efforts.

Moody's said the downgrade reflected its concerns over Greek efforts to balance its strained public finances after Athens had to seek a bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund last year to avoid default.

"The fiscal consolidation measures and structural reforms that are needed to stabilise the country's debt metrics remain very ambitious and are subject to significant implementation risks, despite the progress that has been made to date," Moody's, one of the top three ratings agencies, said in a statement.

It said Greece "continues to face considerable difficulties with revenue collection."

Additionally, there "is a risk that conditions attached to continuing support from official sources after 2013 will reflect solvency criteria that the country may not satisfy, and result in a restructuring of existing debt."

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