German press on Greek stock market rally

The main index of the Athens Stock Exchange registered an increase of almost 36% in the last twelve months, and 6.6% since the beginning of the year.

"The rise primarily reflects the growing profits of companies. In fact, good omens for further profits are far from lacking," the German daily writes, referring to the upgrading of Greece's credit rating by Standard and Poor's.

Despite the fact that Greek debt securities are still in the junk bond category, "the positive outlook suggests that the country will soon be upgraded. The country in August will be released from the fetters of aid packages and can be refinanced by the capital markets. This could succeed. "

Handelsblatt notes that "investors are rewarding the fiscal consolidation and increased pace of the reforms of the government of Alexis Tsipras, as well as the prospect of further alleviation of Greek debt. Also, something positive: In the coming months, the government needs to implement a series of privatizations, especially in the energy sector."

Moreover, as the newspaper notes, the results of the ECB's stress tests, to which the four systemic Greek banks will be submitted, will be crucial, given that the Greek stock market and the Greek economy in general depend primarily on banks.

"Standard and Poor's analysts believe that no new funds will be needed. If the test results expected on May 15 are positive, then Greek stocks will be further strengthened. "