The issuance of the Greek 10-year bond, which is the first since the country regained investment-grade status, closed with record demand, totaling €35 billion, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
Bloomberg noted this was the highest amount ever recorded, as investors rushed to take advantage of high yields before the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates.
Offers for the 30-year German bonds exceeded 74 billion euros, double the prior record set in 2020. Earlier this month, Spain and Belgium also achieved record-breaking bond issuances.
According to Bloomberg, the robust demand represents a vote of confidence from the market following Greece’s return to investment-grade status after more than a decade.
“The country’s healthy growth and fiscal consolidation efforts have boosted its bonds, with yields on 10-year bonds falling by almost 110 basis points in the last 12 months to 3.2%, faring the best in the developed world. Italy, the second-best, saw comparable yields drop by about 45 basis points to around 3.75% over the same period,” notes the financial network.
There is a “strong demand for Greece’s assets,” stated Kaspar Hense, Senior Portfolio Manager at RBC BlueBay Asset Management. “The growth is robust, several structural trends are very positive. Greece’s creditworthiness is still good even in the BBB- space.”
