The Hellenic Republic announced the issuance of a bond with a two arms transaction consisting of:
- An exchange offer as well as a redemption offer for cash addressed to holders of Hellenic government bonds maturing in 2019.
- A new 5-year fixed rate benchmark bond issue maturing in 2022.
This transaction constitutes a part of an overall strategy, which aims at:
- Preventive management of immediate, future, financing needs.
- Greece’s reduction in financial needs in 2019.
- The issuance of a bond with satisfactory liquidity, which will be a reference point in the yield curve of the Hellenic government bonds as part of its reconstitution.
This choice is a major step of the strategy of Greece in order to regain a viable and stable access to the international markets.
This decision to initiate this change, was based on a series of positive developments for Greece.
- Eurogroup’s decision on the 15th of June.
- The credit rating upgrade of the country in Caa2, by Moody’s, on June 23rd 2017.
- The country’s exit from the excessive deficit process on July 12th 2017
- The agreement on the IMF participation in the program, on July 20th 2017.
- The upgrading of the prospect of the Greek economy by Standard and Poor’s, on July 21st 2017.
