Public Debt Management Agency

On Wednesday Greece sold 26-week treasury bills at a yield of 0.85 percent, unchanged from the previous similar auction last month.

Wednesday's auction amounted to 1.625 billion euros, the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) announced.

Total bids of 1.729 billion euros were submitted, exceeding the required amount by 1.38 times.

The settlement date is Friday.

The recent political unrest in Italy is forcing Greece to freeze its summer bond-issuing plans, with Finance Ministry sources scrambling to calm investor fears that a full return to the markets in the fall might generate.

Greek Finance Ministry sources denied on Wednesday reports claiming it had decided to delay by a few months its plan to issue a newn 10-year bond due to increased political risk in Italy, saying it had not even decided on such an issuance.

The improvement observed in Greek bond prices last month convinced the government to start making plans for its next market outing to take advantage of the more favorable conditions for the country and move a step closer to the much prophesied "clean exit" from the bailout program in August.

Greece has raised 812.5 million euros ($1 billion) in a 12-month treasury bill auction, the country's latest step toward regaining market access.

The Public Debt Management Agency said the T-bills were auctioned on Wednesday at a yield of 1.25 percent with the target sum of 625 million euros three times oversubscribed.

Greece opened the book for its new seven-year bond on Thursday morning, expecting to collect at least 3 billion euros from the markets.

Observers anticipate the yield of the new benchmark-sized debt to amount to 3.75 percent, maturing on February 15, 2025.

The process of swapping 20 bonds stemming from the Greek debt restructuring of 2012, or private sector involvement (PSI), began on Wednesday with the issue of new securities.

Greece on Wednesday invited private holders of about 30 billion euros in Greek debt to swap 20 small bonds for five new ones to boost its market liquidity before it emerges from bailouts in August 2018.

The country has been kept afloat with rescue funds since 2010 and is anxious to draw a line under financial upheaval next year and be able to service debt itself.

Parliament's State Budget Office (PBO) warned on Monday that the country will continue to face the risk of bankruptcy unless there is a serious easing of the national debt, adding that tax policy needs to change because it is hampering growth.

Next month Athens will dip a toe into international markets for a second time this year, probably between November 13 and 23.