ECONOMY

Second debt sale planned after first test

Greek authorities have announced a new debt auction for next week after recently testing the market for the first time since receiving bailout loans in May. The Finance Ministry’s Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) says it will auction 13-week treasury bills worth 1.5 billion euros on Tuesday. In a statement yesterday, the agency said noncompetitive bids can be submitted for up to 30 percent of the auction amount. «It’s pretty likely that they will be able to raise more than the size they announced, just like what happened this week,» Christoph Rieger, co-head of fixed-income strategy at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, told Bloomberg. «Perhaps it’s their strategy to announce a small amount, and pleasantly surprise the market once they manage to raise more.» The sale will be the second since the country accepted a EU-led bailout in May. Last week’s 26-week auction signaled that confidence among banks in Greece, which purchased 80 percent of the bills sold, is growing after government austerity measures were introduced in a bid to restore the country’s health. PDMA sold the 26-week bills at a yield of 4.65 percent. About 4.5 billion euros of short-term securities come due between July 10 and 23 and the rollover isn’t fully funded by the 110-billion-euro lifeline received in May to avoid default.

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