Greece to end exile on bond markets as thousands protest

Greece announced today its return to the debt markets after a four-year absence on the same day as protestors launched the first anti-austerity strike of the year, crippling key services across the country.

While up to 20,000 people demonstrated in the streets of the capital Athens and second city Thessaloniki, disrupting rail and ferry services and causing government offices to close, Greece's finance ministry said the country would return to the medium-term debt markets for the first time since 2010.

"The Republic of Greece today has charged international banks to conduct an imminent issue of 5-year bonds in euros under English law," said a finance ministry statement without indicating the amount it wanted to raise.

Greece, widely thought at risk of crashing out of the eurozone at the height of the debt crisis two years ago -- is expected to return to the markets tomorrow to sell at least 500 million euros ($690 million) of five-year bonds, according to one of the banks running the deal.

Greece might pay investors a rate of return as low as 5.0%.

The announcement was made on the eve of a visit to Greece by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

A return to borrowing on the markets represents an important milestone in Greece's financial rehabilitation.

Athens found itself frozen out of debt markets in 2010 after it revealed its public accounts had been falsified and forced to seek a bailout from the EU and IMF to keep the country from defaulting.

Despite the return the market, some investors were unimpressed.

"Given its low rating, regardless of the pricing level, we're not intending to participate," said Joszef Szabo, Head of Global Macro at Aberdeen Asset Management.