"Greece proceeded for the first time to a simultaneous issue of two bonds ... and did it with particular success as both issues attracted remarkably high demand, had exceptional quality and registered historically low yields," said Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras in a written statement.
The five-year issue, maturing on Feb. 12, 2026, expanded by 1.5 billion euros on approximately zero interest, according to the country's Public Debt Management Agency.
"The issue of the five-year bond was at almost zero interest, which constitutes a new historic low regardless of duration," Staikouras commented.
At the same time, the 30-year bond, maturing on Jan. 24, 2052, drew another one billion euros at an interest rate of 1.67 percent.
This takes the sum of the resources Greece has so far drawn from the bond markets this year to 14 billion euros, through five forays.
Demand came to almost 19 billion euros in total and was high enough to bring down the yields of the debt issued from the original guidance.
The five-year paper, originally issued in May 2021, attracted bids adding up to more than 9.3 billion euros, while the 30-year one, first issued in March 2021, wooed over 9.6 billion euros, according to a bourse filing.
Greece maintains a cash buffer of about 36 billion euros that it constantly renews. It has used some of it to fund measures combating the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars)
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