ATHENS: Greece drew strong demand on Tuesday for its seven-year bond issue, taking advantage of record-low borrowing costs.
It raised 2.5 billion euros ($2.83 billion) from a sale that attracted offers worth more than 13 billion euros, the Greek Debt Agency said.
The issue is the country's third since it emerged from international bailouts last year and came a week after a snap election that returned the conservatives to power on a platform of investment, jobs and tax cuts.
Since then, yields of Greek bonds have dropped to record lows. The yield of the seven-year bond has fallen to 1.47pc from about 4pc at the beginning of the year.
The new bond was priced to yield 1.9pc, down from initial guidance of 2.1pc. The coupon was set at 1.875pc.
"This is a vote of confidence in Greece's growth prospects," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement.
With the new issue Greece exceeded its annual target to raise 7 billion euros from debt markets. It had already pocketed 5 billion euros from a 10-year and 5-year bond in the first quarter.
"This transaction represents the first time that the Hellenic Republic has come to market with three syndications in one year since 2010, demonstrating the normalisation of Greece's access to international capital markets," the Debt Agency said.
The transaction enjoyed broad geographical spread, led by the UK with 33pc, with a total of 84pc distributed internationally outside Greece. Fund managers accounted for 55pc of allocations, according to the Debt Agency
Greece can stay afloat without recourse to markets up to 2022 thanks to a 34 billion euro cash buffer it has built with unused loans and money raised from markets.
However, Athens wants to show it can refinance itself from bond markets alone, without external support, and add liquidity to its shallow bond market.
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