The financial services company Standard & Poor's has cut Greece's credit rating deeper into junk territory, saying the country is likely to default on its massive debts within the next year.

Monday's downgrade from B to CCC makes Greece the least credit worthy country in the world on the rating agency's list.

Barely a year after Athens was granted a $150 billion bailout, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are working on a second funding deal for Greece.

Standard & Poor's said European policymakers look increasingly likely to impose a restructuring of Greece's debt, either with a bond swap or by extending bond maturities – moves that would share the burden of Greece's crisis with the private sector.

Greece said Standard & Poor's rating did not take into account the government's commitment to meet its contractual obligations, as well as the determination of all Greeks to remain part of the 17-member eurozone.

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Two U.S. Republican senators, John Cornyn of Texas and David Vitter of Louisiana, urged President Barack Obama Monday to oppose any IMF bailout loans to rescue debt-ridden Greece.

The two lawmakers sent a letter to Mr. Obama saying that U.S. law calls for opposing IMF loans to countries unlikely to repay them.