Greece sold its targeted amount at a Treasury bill auction Wednesday, although the allotment yield increased from last month. The Greek Public Debt Management Agency sold EUR1.138 billion in 26-week T-bills, with the allotment including a 30% non-competitive tranche above the EUR875 million offer size, in line with Greek auction rules.
Greece sold 1.138 billion euros of six-month Treasury bills covering the amount it wanted to refinance a maturing issue.
But for Athens the funds came at a higher cost. The T-bills were priced to yield 2.97 percent, up 22 basis points from 2.75 percent in a previous sale in February, the country’s debt agency PDMA said.
The sale tested the country’s ability to raise funds amid a cash crunch. And it shows “no deterioration in demand despite tight liquidity conditions,” Reuters notes.
However investors’ risk perceptions about the country’s finances seem to remain high.
additional source: capital.gr
The so called “higher cost of Funds” needs to be put into perspective.
A year+ ago the rate for the same T-bills was 4%+. So, no biggie that the cost went slightly up to circa 2.9%.
If Greece could tap such replacement rates for maturing debt then it could refinance itself. The only problem are the IMF loans which need to be repaid and which by the way are costing Greece 4.3% where as the remainder of long term Greek debt has an average rate of 1.8%.
It is actually foolish by the ECB (European Central Bank) to prevent Greece from paying off all its IMF loans and replace them with eurodebt because the mere presence of the IMF complicates negotiations immensely. Best to extinguish IMF debt right away.
it may be a (german) political decision for ECB
No doubt about it. All obstructionist, minimalist and intransigent actions have Berlin written all over.
Actually, news reports say no foreign investors, and much too few Greek ones, were willing to buy these bonds at such low interest rates, in face of the high risk of default. So, Greece had to use the very last accounts at the BoG, money reserved for very different purposes, to buy the majority of t-bills that haf not been sold. When the government can’t pay salaries and wages next month, you’ll know what happened with the money!
True. Foreign investors did not buy.
As far as salaries and wages for next month is this part of V Plan B.
Are you suggesting that we share with you the Plan B so that you could sabotage it at your own leisure?
Not at all. It would be a respectable accomplishment if Varoufakis actually has a realistic plan B. But begging Juncker for money or hoping to get rescue fund billions for a mere list of promises is not a plan, it’s just wishful thinking. Let’s wait and see.