Greece to auction T-Bills to help repay debt

Published November 20, 2014

Greece said Friday it will auction €3.125 billion ($3.83 billion) in short-term debt to help pay off a €3.2 billion bond repayment due on Aug.20.

The Public Debt Management Agency said the auction for 13-week T-bills would be held on Aug. 14. The decision allows Greece to avoid having to seek emergency funding on top of the bailout loans it receives from the Europe and International Monetary Fund.

The €3.2 billion bond that matures Aug. 20 is held by the European Central Bank.

Near-bankrupt Greece has been relying on emergency loans since May, 2010 after being frozen out of long-term debt markets, but has maintained a market presence with regular treasury bill auctions of 13- and 26-week money. The Aug. 14 auction would be the largest since the Greece requested emergency assistance.

The country's new coalition government, elected in June, can only receive additional rescue loans after officials from its bailout creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, have finished analyzing its public finances.

The government must first provide the officials details of a new austerity package worth €11.5 billion ($14.1 billion) for 2013-2014 to slash its budget deficit. The assessment is expected in September.

Greece's last 13-week T-bill auction, held last month, raised €2 billion ($2.45 billion), at an interest rate of 4.28 percent and was 2.12 times oversubscribed.

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