Moody's Says Economic Growth Key to Viability of Euro Zone

   By Art Patnaude 
 

LONDON--Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday said a swift return to strong economic growth is critical to the viability of the euro area.

"If we see an ongoing recession, that's a significant threat to the viability of the euro area," said Dietmar Hornung, senior credit officer at Moody's, while speaking in London at the offices of French lender Natixis.

Hornung said achieving solid growth levels, especially in Italy and Spain, would need happen in a medium-term time frame of about two years.

Moody's rates Italy and Spain in investment-grade territory, although their current ratings are a large part due to the backstops provided from the European Central Bank and the two sovereign bailout funds, Hornung said. While those backstops are big enough to aid smaller countries--such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal--they would be insufficient to cover larger economies.

"Europe is living on borrowed time," he said. "If Italy gets into serious trouble, then the EU is in serious trouble. You can't take Italy out of the market for three years."