by Calculated Risk on 12/17/2010 08:58:00 AM

From the NY Times: Moody’s Slashes Ireland’s Credit Rating

Moody’s ... cut Ireland’s credit rating by five notches to Baa1, with a negative outlook, from Aa2 and it warned further downgrades could follow. The rating remains investment grade but if it were to move down by three more notches, Irish debt would be classified as junk.

“The Irish government’s financial strength could decline further if economic growth were to be weaker than currently projected or the cost of stabilizing the banking system turn out to be higher than currently forecast,” Moody’s said in a statement.

The yield on the Ireland 10-year bond is up to 8.37%.

Meanwhile, from Bloomberg: EU Leaders Create Debt-Management Mechanism From 2013