Greek default would hurt banks, other EZ peripherals

ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek debt default would hurt the country's credit rating as well as its banks and would likely affect other peripheral euro zone countries, Moody's said in a statement assessing the impact of a possible default.

"The longer the current state of uncertainty affecting Greece persists, the greater the temptation on the part of both the Greek and the euro area authorities to try to undertake some form of debt restructuring," Moody's said in a statement.

"Moody's believes that a default is likely to have adverse credit rating implications for Greece, possibly some other stressed European sovereigns, and the Greek banks, regardless of the efforts made to achieve an 'orderly' outcome," it added.

(Reporting by Ingrid Melander)