Greece raises 3.0 billion euros with new 10-year bond loan issue

The interest of the 10-year bond loan was set at 1.55 pct, while bids submitted surpassed 16.5 billion euros. 

Commenting on the success of the new issue, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said that "the markets' confidence towards Greece and the government is confirmed in action and that is to the benefit of all Greeks".

It was the third time this year that Greece resorted to international capital markets, after a 15-year bond (2.5 billion euros at 1.88 pct) and a seven-year bond (2.0 billion euros at 2.0 pct).
BNP Paribas, BofA, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBS and JPMorgan acted as underwriters of the issue. 

The bond issue will strengthen Greece's cash, which, according to Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, totaled 36.6 billion euros at the end of March. 

State bond yields eased further in the domestic electronic secondary bond market. The 10-year bond yield fell to 1.42 pct from 1.48 pct on Friday. The yield spread between the 10-year Greek and German benchmark bonds shrank to 1.74 pct from 1.80 pct last week with the German Bund yielding -0.32 pct. Turnover was 70 million euros of which 64 million were sell orders.