Greece raised slightly more than the target amount at a debt auction on Tuesday that saw the country's borrowing costs rise and demand for its debt fall amid the lingering political uncertainty.
The Public Debt Management Agency sold EUR 1.30 billion of 13-week treasury bills against the auctioned amount of EUR 1 billion. The sale attracted bids totaling EUR 2.320 billion.
The yield on the 13-week paper rose to 4.34 percent from 4.20 percent in the previous sale on April 17. The bid-to-cover ratio, which indicates demand, fell to 2.32 from 2.46.
Elsewhere today, reports said citing government sources that the debt-ridden country would pay holders of a bond that matures today.
The country would avoid a default if it makes the EUR 430 million payment, which is the first bond to fall due after the huge debt restructuring the country undertook in March. The holders of the said bond had rejected the debt swap deal.
Preliminary data released today showed that Greece's gross domestic product declined a non-seasonally adjusted 6.2 percent year-on-year, following a 7.5 percent fall in the previous three months. The economy shrunk for the eighth quarter in a row.
Greek political parties are set to hold a last round of emergency talks later today that is aimed at forming a coalition government in wake of last week's indecisive elections in which no single party secured the required majority. Several earlier attempts to form a unity government by different political parties failed.
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