Pada 27 April 2010, penarafan hutang Yunani telah menurun kepada tahap atas "kualiti rendah"[31] status by Standard & Poor's amidst hints default by pemerintah Yunani.[32] Yields pada pemerintah Yunani two-year bonds rose hingga 15.3% following the downgrading.[33] Some analysts continue to question Yunani's ability to refinance its hutang. Standard & Poor's estimates that in the event default investors would fail to get 30–50% their money back.[32] Stock markets worldwide declined in response to this announcement.[34]

Following downgradings by Fitch dan Moody's, as well as Standard & Poor's,[35] Yunani bond yields rose pada tahun 2010, both in absolute terms dan relative to German bon pemerintah.[36] Yields have risen, particularly in the wake successive ratings downgrading. According to The Wall Street Journal, "dengan only a handful bonds changing hands, the meaning the bond move isn't so clear."[37]

On 3 May 2010, the European Central Bank (ECB) suspended its minimum threshold for Yunani hutang "until further notice",[38] meaning the bonds will remain eligible as collateral even dengan junk status. The decision will guarantee Yunani banks' access to cheap central bank funding, dan analysts said it should juga help increase Yunani bonds' attractiveness to investors.[39] Following the introduction these langkah-langkah the yield pada bPada 10 tahun Yunani menurun kepada 8.5%, 550 basis points above German yields, down from 800 basis points earlier.[40] As 22 September 2011, bPada 10 tahun Yunani diperdagangkan pada hasil efektif bernilai 23.6%, more than double the amount the year before.[41]