Debt sale planned for Tuesday
Greece will auction a total of 1.5 billion euros of 13-week T-bills on Tuesday, the country’s debt agency (PDMA) said yesterday. The debt sale will take place ahead of an expected roadshow Greece is intending to take to the United States to promote a dollar-denominated bond. The Greek government is believed to have tapped Morgan Stanley as lead underwriter for its planned US dollar bond sale, although the company denied it has been mandated as the lead underwriter. Sources said that Greece has turned to the US bank to sell the bond in dollars which will target US money managers to broaden its investor base following dwindling support for its securities in Europe and Asia. Greece needs to borrow about 11 billion euros by the end of May to refinance maturing debt and interest charges. Its overall 2010 borrowing requirement is 53 billion euros. The premium investors demand to hold Greek bonds rather than German benchmark Bunds soared to a record high last week on worries about Greece’s ability to refinance its maturing debt.
