LONDON (MNI) – Greece is planning to sell E1.5 billion in 13-week
T-Bills on Tuesday April 20, the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA)
said in an emailed statement Friday.

The sale follows recent press reports that Athens is now unlikely
to issue a dollar-denominated bond after it begins its roadshow in the
US on April 20.

“I am not sure if we are going to issue dollar-denominated bonds
after (the US roadshow)…,” PDMA Chief Petros Christodoulou was quoted
as saying in an interview with Japan’s Jiji news agency published
Friday.

Strategists now see the PDMA increasing its share of short-term
T-Bill sales this year, after yield on bill rates fell after EMU finance
ministers agreed Sunday to a contingency 3-year plan for Greece that
would provide loans — if requested by the Greek government — of up to
E30 billion in the first year of the program, with more funding
available in subsequent years. The International Monetary Fund would
kick in an additional E10 billion to E15 billion in the first year.

This effectively takes care of this years remaining funding
requirement and lessens the change of default this year, say
strategists.

Moreover, given that this week’s 26-week and 52-week T-Bill sales
were so successful, with the debt agency selling E1.56bln combined —
more than the E1.2bln originally indicated, with 26-week T-Bill covered
7.67 times and the 52-week maturity covered 6.54 times — short-term
T-Bill issuance is likely to become the debt agency’s favoured funding
method.

The 13-week T-Bill sale come ahead of the heavy slew of redemptions
payments that Athens needs to fund, which includes E1.28 billion in
T-bill redemptions on Apr 16, E8.22 billion in bond redemptions on Apr
20 and E1.585 billion in T-bill redemptions on Apr 23.

In addition, Greece also faces a E2.278 billion coupon payment on
May 10 and E8.086 billion in bond redemptions on May 19. The PDMA debt
chief has already hinted that April’s funding needs are taken care of,
but that the country needs to raise E11.6 billion by May.

Greece has so far raised around E25.0 billion so far this year out
of the E54.0 billion funding target, according to Market News
International calculations.

–London newsroom: 00 44 20 7862 7494; email: nshamim@marketnews.com

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