Greece is selling a benchmark issue of seven-year bonds in its first debt offering since the European Union and International Monetary Fund pledged to help the debt-ridden nation finance its budget deficit.
Greece may price the bonds to yield about 310 basis points over the benchmark mid-swap rate, according to two bankers involved in the transaction, who declined to be identified before the sale is completed.
The EU and IMF agreed last week to stand behind Greece’s debt as it prepares to raise about 53 billion euros ($71 billion) by year-end. The sale pushed the extra yield investors require to hold 10-year Greek government bonds rather than benchmark German securities wider.
“Although there are some details that need clarifying regarding the EU-IMF aid, investors are likely to take comfort in the backstop,”Harpreet Parhar, a credit strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in London, wrote in a note to clients. “This should lead to strong demand for the new issue and result in tighter spreads as the markets price in lower refinancing risk.”
The spread between Greece’s benchmark 10-year bonds and German bunds widened 2 basis points to 307 basis points on news of the bond issue. The yield gap was at 337 basis points a week ago. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
Greek Prime MinisterGeorge Papandreou’s government has to complete as much as 15.5 billion euros of its 2010 fundraising by the end of May, according to an estimate from the debt agency.Petros Christodoulou, head of the agency, said in an interview today that the issue would be of “benchmark size.”
Debt Insurance
The cost of insuring against a Greek default rose, with credit-default swaps tied to the nation’s debt climbing 6 basis points to 301 basis points, according to CMA DataVision. The price of the swaps soared to as high as 428 basis points on Feb. 4 when it seemed likely Greece’s debt crisis would spread to its southern European neighbours.
Credit-default swaps pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a company or country fail to adhere to its debt agreements. A basis point on a contract protecting $10 million of debt from default for five years is equivalent to $1,000 a year.
Greece hired Alpha Bank AE, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Emporiki Bank SA, ING Groep NV and Societe Generale SA to manage the bond issue, the bankers said.
(from Bloomberg)