Report says Athens will issue a fresh bond
Athens is preparing for its third bond issue this year by June, with the focus being on attracting long-term investors, Reuters has reported.
Sources say that the Finance Ministry is actually planning a new issue, possibly of a seven-year note, that will see it cover its annual target – a total of 7 billion euros – without ruling out another issue later this year.
The question, according to the news agency, for the Greek state to sustain its market access is securing the interest of major investors such as BlackRock and Amundi. There are signs that such investors have started putting Greek bonds back on their radar screens, Reuters argued.
While in the 2014 issue of a five-year note fewer than 30 percent of investors had been institutional ones and 50 percent was bought by profiteering funds, in this year’s issues hedge funds accounted for just 11 percent while institutional investors bought about 70 percent. Another reason for Athens to proceed to new issues is the restoration of normality for the country, Reuters said in its report.
The Greek 10-year bond yield has come off 13-year lows recorded in March to reach 3.37 percent on Wednesday.
