Greek bond yields ease
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
PARIS, May 3 (AFP): The interest rate Greece must pay to borrow for 10 years fell to 8.715 per cent in morning trading Monday from 8.938 per cent Friday, in response to an imminent debt rescue agreed last weekend.
The rate, or yield, on two-year debt fell even more sharply by 2.27 percentage points to 10.362 per cent.
On Sunday, Greece said that it would ramp up its measures to correct budget overspending to achieve an unprecedented reduction of the public deficit from nearly 14.0 per cent of output last year to less than 3.0 per cent by the end of 2014.
In return the eurozone announced a three-year aid programme totalling 110 billion euros, including 30 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund.
At BNP Paribas, analysts commented: "The Greek government made key announcements this weekend, adding new budget cuts to decisions already taken."
They said: "These strong statements and these figures should please the markets. The next stage is the timetable for loans, because Greece does not have much time left, at least for the line of 10 billion euros which fall due (for repayment) on May 19."
A government source in Athens told the news agency Monday that the first loans from the European Union and the IMF would arrive in time to enable Greece to honour the May 19 deadline.
The rate, or yield, on two-year debt fell even more sharply by 2.27 percentage points to 10.362 per cent.
On Sunday, Greece said that it would ramp up its measures to correct budget overspending to achieve an unprecedented reduction of the public deficit from nearly 14.0 per cent of output last year to less than 3.0 per cent by the end of 2014.
In return the eurozone announced a three-year aid programme totalling 110 billion euros, including 30 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund.
At BNP Paribas, analysts commented: "The Greek government made key announcements this weekend, adding new budget cuts to decisions already taken."
They said: "These strong statements and these figures should please the markets. The next stage is the timetable for loans, because Greece does not have much time left, at least for the line of 10 billion euros which fall due (for repayment) on May 19."
A government source in Athens told the news agency Monday that the first loans from the European Union and the IMF would arrive in time to enable Greece to honour the May 19 deadline.