Investment grade remains elusive

The recent health crisis is dampening hopes of a credit rating upgrade for Greece. According to Capital Economics economist Melanie Debono, "it is now highly unlikely that any government will be upgraded by the credit rating agencies in the near future, given that the world is on the verge of a deep recession. Greece is not immune from this."

Still, analysts stress that Greece's inclusion in the European Central Bank's emergency bond buyback program ("QE") is a significant step and that it will help shield the country's cost of borrowing, making the prospect of missing out on an investment-grade rating less important.

On the downside of course, the delay is not helping local banks, as Greek bonds continue to be ineligible for collateral to get ECB funding.

Jens Peter Sorensen, a chief analyst at Danske Bank, says that the situation is not all bad. "The rating...