Fitch downgrades Greece

ATHENS (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings on Friday to 'B+' from 'BB+ and put the ratings on rating watch negative, it said.

The rating downgrade reflects the scale of the challenge facing Greece in implementing a radical fiscal and structural reform program necessary to secure solvency of the state and the foundations for sustained economic recovery, Fitch said.

(Reporting by Athens bureau, +30 210 3376436)