ATHENS, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Greece drew 3 billion euros (3.6 billion U.S. dollars) on Wednesday through a new five-year issue that secured a record low interest rate in the country's borrowing history, according to its Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.
Greece's Public Debt Management Agency announced in a bourse filing that the debt issue maturing on Feb. 12, 2026 obtained bids of more than 20 billion euros and an interest rate of 0.2 percent, against an original guidance rate for 0.28 percent.
Staikouras commented in an e-mailed press statement that this "record low interest rate for the Greek state regardless of the bond's maturity" constituted "yet another vote of confidence by the international investment community" in the Greek economy and its prospects.
He reminded that the previous five-year issue, two years earlier, had reached a 3.6-percent interest rate.
"Today's issue also had a major coverage ratio and excellent quality," the minister added in reference to the investors bidding for the paper.
This was Greece's third market foray this year, after a 30-year and a 10-year issue, taking the sum of the cash drawn within 2021 to 9 billion euros to date.
The bond issue came a few days after the country's credit rating upgrade by Standard & Poor's, which has brought Greece two notches away from investment grade.
"All this constitutes an acknowledgment of the society's sacrifices and the reliability and efficiency of government policy," said Staikouras, noting that Greece "manages to maintain its cash reserves on a secure level." (1 euro = 1.2 U.S. dollars) Enditem