Moody’s downgrades Greece’s debt

The agency also cited Greece’s “highly uncertain growth prospects’’ and the missed targets in budget reforms being carried out in return for a $157.59 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund and other European Union countries that use the euro.

The Finance Ministry in Athens attributed the downgrade to “intense rumors in the printed and electronic press’’ and said Moody’s failed to take into account the government’s commitment to achieve its fiscal targets in 2011.

The government is also concluding negotiations with the EU, IMF, and European Central Bank so it can receive the fifth installment of its bailout loans later this month, worth $17.3 billion.

The negotiations’ outcome will depend on a review of the country’s finances by the EU and IMF that is due to be published by the end of this week. The talks are considered key to providing additional bailout assistance next year. Greece remains frozen out of the bond markets by high interest rates.

The talks will also cement details of a midterm austerity program due to run from next year to 2015, two years beyond the current mandate.