Greece raises 1.17 billion euros in bond sale: Official

ATHENS: Greece on Tuesday raised 1.17 billion euros, or $1.5 billion, in an oversubscribed six-month treasury bill sale with a 4.82-per cent coupon, the Greek debt management agency said.

The issue, which had an original target of 900 million euros, was oversubscribed by investors four times over, agency chairman Petros Christodoulou said.

"The issue went very well, it is a very positive result and well below the five-per cent coupon," he said.

The Tuesday sale was Greece's first under a monthly issue schedule that replaced quarterly auctions last month.

In the last comparative six-month T-bill issue in July, Greece had raised 1.625 billion euros by offering a uniform yield of 4.65 per cent.

Athens is tentatively trying to regain investor confidence on the bond markets after its narrow rescue from default by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in May.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou is to hold a roadshow to London, Paris and Frankfurt for meetings with international investors.

Three-month bills are scheduled to be released on September 21. The debt agency has not yet released further details on that auction.

Greece came close to default earlier this year and had to be rescued by massive EU and IMF bailout loans worth 110 billion euros or $140 billion over three years.

A draconian austerity drive of wage and pension cuts applauded by the EU and IMF appears to have borne fruit despite protests and Greece now favours a full return to bond markets with longer-term debt next year.