Ireland gets fresh boost as Moody's removes junk rating

Moody's Investors Service upgraded Ireland to investment grade on Friday, handing the government a major post-bailout boost and opening its already sought-after debt to investors prohibited from buying junk-rated paper.

It is the latest in a run of good news for Ireland, which became the first euro zone country to complete a bailout, made a storming bond market return last week and has an economy that is picking up steam.

Moody's, which was the only rating agency to class Irish government debt as "junk", raised it to Baa3 from Ba1 with a positive outlook, citing the economy's growth potential and restored market access as the main drivers.

"They undertook the fiscal consolidation and structural reforms in the (bailout) program with great seriousness. It really was their determination to succeed that helped them to both regain and retain investor confidence," Kristin Lindow, Moody's analyst for Ireland, told Reuters.

Read more: Ireland gets fresh boost as Moody's removes junk rating - Yahoo Finance