More bond issues to shore up post-bailout future

Greece wants to tap bond markets twice before year-end and may sell its first 10-year issue in a decade, in an effort to convince investors that it does not need any more external aid after its bailout program ends in August, sources said.

Two government officials with knowledge of the matter said Athens wants to raise up to 4.5 billion euros in total from two bond sales in the coming months, depending on market conditions.

One of the issues could be a 10-year bond of around 2-2.5 billion euros in size.

“The specific time has not been decided yet… it depends on the market conditions,” one of the officials said on condition of anonymity.

The other issue would have a maturity of less than seven years and aim to raise around 1.5-2 billion euros.

The officials said that if conditions in the markets change then Athens will adjust its plans on the number of issues.

“Our primary target is to fill specific points in the maturity curve and show consistency to the markets,” one official said.

The second official said Greece was able to cover its debt servicing needs for the next two years.

“We have liquidity of about 20 billion euros and we can cover our bills for at least two years… until early 2020,” the second official said.

“That means that even without a single issue we can cover our needs.”

[Reuters]