ATHENS (MNI) – The Greek Debt Agency announced today that it had
received bids of E31.9 billion during its week-long bond buy-back
auction, with an average price of 33.8 cents per euro of nominal value.
The agency said in a statement that, “the Greek government is
planning to accept all bids if the European Financial Stability Facility
(EFSF) will increase the auction’s financing by E1.29 billion.”
The Eurozone finance ministers approved lending Greece E10 billion
for the purpose of conducting the auction, but the higher-than-expected
price raises the cost of the auction by E1.29 billion.
A top Eurozone official told MNI late Tuesday, after a Eurogroup
teleconference, that the ministers had not agreed on the financing and
would discuss it further at their meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
The same source revealed that while the IMF and the Greek
government had urged speedy aid from the EFSF, Germany, the Netherlands
and Finland had disagreed and suggested that the additional amount
should be cut from the existing bailout loan facility for Greece.
The bond buy-back auction must be deemed “successful” in order for
Greece to be eligible to receive a long-overdue E34 billion loan
tranche.
A high-ranking Greek government official told journalists after the
teleconference last night that while the auction was “technically
successful, it is up to the Eurogroup to decide if it is politically
successful.”
[TOPICS: M$X$$$,M$Y$$$,MGX$$$,MT$$$$,M$$CR$]
