Markets

Greece sells 1.625bn euros of 6-month T-bills, yield inches up

Published January 7, 2015 Updated January 7, 2015 11:54am

ATHENS: Greece sold 1.625 billion euros ($1.93 billion) of six-month Treasury bills on Wednesday to roll over a maturing issue, the country's debt agency PDMA said in the first sale since parliament was dissolved for snap polls last month.

The T-bills were priced to yield 2.30 percent, up slightly from 2.15 percent in the last sale in December.

Wednesday's sale is the first since lawmakers failed to elect a president in December, triggering early elections on Jan. 25. The leftist opposition Syriza party, which is against the country's EU/IMF bailout, leads in opinion polls.

Syriza has promised to abandon austerity and write off much of Greece's debt as part of a renegotiation of the country's bailout with the lenders, unnerving financial markets.

The sale's bid-cover ratio was 1.58 from 1.81 in the previous sale.

The amount raised included 375 million euros in non-competitive bids. The settlement date for Wednesday's auction will be January 9.

Athens has a stock of about 15 billion euros of T-bills, which it regularly refinances.

Copyright Reuters, 2014