Wednesday, 9 April 2014-In an article under the title “Greek rebound is astonishing”, Reuters΄ columnist Hugo Dixon pointed out that the country is undergoing an astonishing financial rebound. “Two years ago, the country looked like it was set for a messy default and exit from the euro. Now it is on the verge of returning to the bond market with the issue of 2 billion euros of five-year paper,” he noted.
According to a Wall Street Journal report citing two people familiar with the matter, Greece plans to issue a long-term bond on Wednesday. The country is likely to sell around 2 billion euros in five-year bonds, assuming market conditions remain benign, one of the people said.
“There are still political risks, and the real economy is only now starting to turn. But the financial recovery is impressive. The 10-year bond yield, which hit 30 percent after the debt restructuring two years ago, is now 6.2 percent,” Dixon wrote.
“The centre-right government of Antonis Samaras has surprised observers at home and abroad by its ability to continue with the fiscal and structural reforms started by his predecessors. The most important successes have been reform of the labour market, which has restored Greece’s competiveness, and the achievement last year of a “primary” budgetary surplus before interest payments,” he added.
The reopening of the markets to Greece also means it probably no longer faces a funding gap, which the last official projections by its creditors put at 15 billion euros over the next two years, Dixon noted.
Source: Reuters
