D-day for Greece's bond market return

Tuesday marks Greece's first attempt since 2014 to tap international markets with the issue of a five-year bond. The announcement of the book opening was made on Monday in a statement via the Athens stock market.

Greece is returning to the markets in a very cautious manner, as the official announcement by the Hellenic Republic mentions neither the amount nor the interest rate of the issue.

The process will be completed over the course of the day and will have three main pillars: a swap of bonds maturing on April 17, 2019 for the new five-year paper, the return of bonds expiring in 2019 through paying 102.6 cents per euro, and the sale of new bonds through cash.

In a conference call with bond managers in Greece and abroad Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said that "the tough measures are now in place, we have the growth ahead of us."

Tsakalotos added...