Interview: S&P could upgrade Greece "pretty quickly if aid deal sticks

By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - Standard and Poor's could upgrade Greece's rock bottom credit rating "pretty quickly" if Monday's plan for a third euro zone bailout in five years looks like holding, the rating agency's top European sovereign analyst said.

Moritz Kraemer told Reuters that although the firm's longer-term base case remained that Greece would end up leaving the euro, the deal had reduce the immediate risk of that and could lead to an upgrade from its CCC- grade in the next week or two.

"It could happen pretty quickly," Kraemer said. "If you have a solid programme that we think is conducive to bringing growth back to the economy and allowing the financial system to work again, then this is more important than the medium-term debt sustainability question."

(Reporting by Marc Jones)