Inspiring confidence?

The European Commission's reaction to the Standard & Poor’s credit rating downgrade of Greece to “junk” status:

“Who is Standard & Poor’s by the way?” asked Amadeu Altafaj, the spokesman for E.U. Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, as he took the podium at a regular midday news briefing at the European Commission.

Mr. Tardio later appeared to try to counter any perception he had questioned the ratings agency’s decision on Greece. “I was asking myself,” Mr. Tardio said in explaining his earlier remarks. “I’m not an expert on credit rating agencies.”

From the IHT.

Getting angry at press conferences is not exactly likely to boost market confidence in Greek government bonds.