Greece sells 1.625 bln euros in T-bills, yield rises
Greece’s Public Debt Management Agency sold 1.625 billion euros of six-month T-bills on Tuesday, with the yield rising by 6 basis points compared to a previous auction in November.
Monthly T-bill sales have been Greece’s sole source of market funding since it was shut out of bond markets early last year when its derailed finances triggered the country’s worst crisis in decades.
The sale’s bid-cover ratio was 2.93, up from 2.91 in the previous auction. Greece paid a yield of 4.95 percent, up from 4.89 percent in the Nov. 8 sale, the PDMA debt agency said.
The sale will help fund the rollover of a previous 2 billion euro issue that matures on Dec. 16.
PDMA said the settlement date for the T-bill sale will be Dec. 16. The sale included 375 million euros in non-competitive bids. Further non-competitive bids of up to another 375 million euros may be submitted by Dec. 15.
The debt agency declined to say how much of the issue was bought by foreign investors.
Athens is awaiting the disbursement of an 8 billion euro loan tranche under an EU/IMF bailout plan that funds most of its financing needs.
[Reuters]
