Athens:
Greece on Wednesday began taking offers on a seven-year bond, state agency ANA said, amid efforts to shore up its economy during a costly coronavirus lockdown.
According to reports, the Greek debt agency will seek to raise around 2.0 billion euros (USD 2.2 billion).
“We don’t want to raise large amounts because we do not have the (financing) needs of other countries,” Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told Action24 TV on Tuesday.
In a stock exchange announcement late Tuesday, Athens said it had “mandated Citi, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Societe Generale” to handle the offering with a maturity of April 2027.
Greece in January issued a 15-year bond that raised 2.5 billion euros (USD 2.75 billion).
The country had originally aimed to borrow between 4.0 and 8.0 billion euros in 2020, according to the budget.
But the government has earmarked 24 billion euros in national and EU funds to support the economy this year due to the coronavirus shutdown.
Staikouras has told parliament that emergency measures to support businesses and employment in March and April will cost 5.1 billion euros.
In a report Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast a 10-percent recession for Greece in 2020.
Greece has cash reserves of over 35 billion euros, including 15.7 billion euros earmarked for debt repayment.
Greece’s borrowing costs had fallen to historic lows before the start of the pandemic but rose again in March.
