Greece seeks right time for new bond issue
The Finance Ministry is monitoring the reaction of capital markets to the estimates of the International Monetary Fund, as after last week’s release of the Greek Debt Sustainability Analysis there was notable activity in the Greek bond market, with yields showing a strong rise and the benchmark 10-year bond climbing above 4 percent.
The ministry is seeking a new window for a market return this fall, with September being a first candidate date, as plans for an issue before August 20 have now been abandoned.
Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and his alternate, Giorgos Houliarakis, are preparing for their next overseas trip, this time to Asia, following their contacts with foreign investors arranged by the Rothschild firm in London, New York and Boston.
They will be armed with the IMF verdict that the Greek debt is sustainable in the medium term, which came after the European Central Bank’s rejection of both Greece being included in its bond-buying program and any extension to the favorable status of Greek bonds, which has allowed them to be used as collateral despite being junk-rated.
