Successful sale of 20-year Greek bond yields 1.8 billion euros
LONDON (Reuters) – Greece yesterday sold 1.8 billion euros of 20-year inflation-protected bonds at 23 basis points over French index-linked paper maturing in 2032 (OAT), according to the lead managers. This was a reopening of a 2.9 percent July 2025 bond which was first issued in March 2003 – also through a syndicated deal. The latest sale brought the amount outstanding of this bond to 5.2 billion euros. The pricing came in at the tighter end of market expectations of 23-24 basis points. The fixed re-offer price was 117.082, translating into a yield of 1.872 percent. «The demand almost doubled the amount offered. So, it went rather well. I guess the demand was driven by the fact that investors are slowly building up an inflation-linked portfolio,» said Wee-Khoon Chong at RBS Financial Markets. «Index-linked bonds are suffering at the moment because of low inflation expectations. However, having this kind of asset in your portfolio is good from a diversification point of view.» The bond is rated «A1» by Moody’s and «A» by S&P.
