Bailed-out Greece returned to bond markets with a bang on Thursday after a four-year exile, raising 3.0 billion euros and sending a major signal that the eurozone debt crisis is fading. Greece's EU-IMF creditors hailed the move which the Greek prime minister said had "opened the way for cheaper borrowing" for the recession-hit country.
"We have opened the way for cheaper borrowing on the markets tomorrow," Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a televised address. "If all goes well from now on, next time the country will be able to borrow higher sums at lower interest," he said. The finance ministry said Greece had sold the five-year bond at 4.75 percent interest, with participation of long-term investors outside Greece expected to approach 90 percent. In Washington, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the bond issue showed Greece was headed in the "right direction."
"I see the issuance that took place today, which was massively oversubscribed, as an indication that Greece is heading in the right direction," Lagarde told reporters at the World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual spring meetings. EU vice-president Siim Kallas added: "It is an important sign that the Greek economy is starting to regain the confidence of investors, and reflects the positive effects of the far-reaching reforms undertaken by Greece." Deputy Greek Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos told reporters that the sale had been "at least eight times oversubscribed".