- Title: Greece announces new 5-year bond issue after 3-year market exile
- Date: 24th July 2017
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JULY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) ATHENS SKYLINE WITH ACROPOLIS IN BACKGROUND PARTHENON TEMPLE ON ACROPOLIS HILL ATHENS SQUARE, FINANCE MINISTRY BUILDING IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING ON SQUARE GREEK FINANCE MINISTRY EXTERIOR GREEK AND EU FLAG ON BUILDING VARIOUS OF FINANCE MINISTRY VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE VARIOUS OF INTERIOR OF ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE, GRAPHS AND SHARE PRICE TICKER ON THE WALLS MERIT SECURITIES ANALYST NICK KAFKAS (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) MERIT SECURITIES ANALYST NICK KAFKAS SAYING: "I believe it is a good step, but it is only one step, I believe what we have to look at more is the framework. Certainly, it is in the right direction. The future, and in fact the near future, will show if it was a good move in the end or not." GRAPHS AND SHARE PRICE TICKER AT ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE SHARE PRICE TICKER (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) MERIT SECURITIES ANALYST NICK KAFKAS SAYING: "The timing could possibly be a bit risky at this phase, but at any rate the whole undertaking will be judged from the result. We hope it is part of a general framework strategy for the return to markets." VARIOUS OF GRAPHS AT ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) MERIT SECURITIES ANALYST NICK KAFKAS SAYING: "We would have preferred that it was not so premature - that there had been more privatizations carried out, perhaps more of a wider margin for the third review to have been completed. But all of these are relative, because - as I said at first - when there is a window of opportunity we exploit it." VARIOUS OF SHARE PRICE TICKER AT ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
- Embargoed: 7th August 2017 15:50
- Keywords: Greece bailout loans austerity reforms bonds debt crisis markets five year
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE
- City: ATHENS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Budget/Taxation/Revenue,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016R2UO93
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: In its first attempt to return to the bond market in three years as its debt crisis eases, Greece on Monday (July 24) invited holders of its 4.75 percent outstanding bonds maturing in 2019 to tender them for cash, along with a plan to offer new five-year paper.
Greece last ventured into international bond markets with two issues in 2014, a year before then newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras signed up to a new bailout, the country's third since 2010, after months of tense negotiations with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Last month, Greece concluded a crucial bailout review and its lenders offered some detail on the measures that will be carried out when its current bailout ends in 2018 to ease its debt mountain, which stands at 180 percent of economic output.
That development opened the way for Greece's market foray, which the Tsipras government says should be viewed as a test run and considered part of an overall strategy to ensure the country can fully return to markets next year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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