Moody's downgrades Greece as deficit worse than predicted

Moody's downgraded the country from A2 to A3 this afternoon after Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, revised down the figure from an earlier estimate of 12.7%. Yields on Greece's 10-year bonds reached highs of 8.8% and its two-year bonds reached 10.1% - the highest levels since 1998. The cost of insuring Greek government debt against default hit a record high of 616 basis points. The news has also hurt stock markets. This afternoon the FTSE 100 was down 1.02%, while the Dow Jones fell 0.85%. Economists say Greece now has no choice but to formally seek help from the eurozone member...