S&P raises Greece rating after bank recapitalisation, reforms

(Reuters) - Standard and Poor's raised Greece's rating to "B minus" from "CCC plus", saying the country is broadly in compliance with the terms of its 86 billion euro financial support program after recapitalizing its banks and taking budgetary steps.

Despite various shocks, Greece's economy had proved to be more resilient than expected, the ratings agency said on Friday.

"By the end of March, we expect a compromise to be reached on pension reform that will balance the government's preference to raise social security contributions and consolidate the separate pension funds into a single system," S&P said.

In November, Greece reached an agreement with its lenders on financial reforms to secure further bailout funds.

S&P said it expected "one more year of essentially flat growth" for the Greek economy, "followed by a more robust recovery."

The ratings agency also raised Greece's short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings to "B" from "C".

The outlook is stable, S&P said.

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)