Greece Sells 390 MLN Euro 6-month Bonds, Rates Rise

Greece has today issued six-month state bonds worth 390 million euros at a yield up 28 base points compared to the previous auction in October. The news was released by Reuters, which quoted the agency for Greek debt management (PDMA).
At the auction, which saw a relationship between demand and supply of 5.15 and a participation of foreign investors of around a third, Greece paid a yield of 4.82%, compared to the 4.54% paid at the auction of October 12.
Head of GDMA Petros Christodoulou noted that one-third of treasury bills on Tuesday were bought by foreigners in a sign that there is still confidence in the Greek national economy.
Greek officials and analysts did not expect a lower interest rate in Tuesday’ s auction, since the amount requested was quite small.
Greece aims to continue such monthly treasury bill auctions, until they fully return to the international markets in 2011.