Moody's: multi-notch downgrade for Ireland likely

LONDON Nov 22 (Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody's said the European/IMF rescue package for Ireland is negative for the country's credit rating as it transfers the burden of banking problem to the state and increases the sovereign debt burden.

"A multi-notch downgrade, leaving the rating of the Republic still within the investment-grade category, is now the most likely outcome of our review of the sovereign credit," Dietmar Hornung, vice president and senior credit officer for Moody's said in a note.

(Reporting by Natsuko Waki and Emelia Sithole-Materise)