Greece's credit rating has been knocked down by one step to fall to A2. Moody's Investors Service was the third ratings agency to downgrade Greece's sovereign debt rating.

To this disgrace the grounds given were that the government of country’s long-term credit strength was going down. So the ratings agency cut the country's government bond ratings from A1 to A2. With Poland and Botswana at the same rating, this is the lowest rating among 16 euro-member states.

Despite the severe action, Greek stock and bond markets gathered themselves again. Athens Stock Exchange general index was up 3.4%.

Greece’s rating was lowered to A2 from A1, Moody’s said in a statement from London today. That left it five steps above non-investment grade and two higher than the levels assigned to it by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

Prime Minister George Papandreou’s has promised that he can persuade investors to cut its deficit from 12.7 percent of output to below the European Union’s 3 percent limit by 2013.