Greece issues first 5-yr-bond since bailout exit: ministry source

Greece on Monday issued a five-year bond, a finance ministry source said, its first such debt issue since exiting its last bailout.

The ministry source confirmed the issue to AFP without specifying the amount sought, which according to reports is between two and 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion).

In its last bond issue in February 2018, Greece raised 3.0 billion euros at 3.5 percent via a 7-year bond.

Offers at the time stood at around 6.5 billion euros.

The previous five-year bond sale, in July 2017, raised 3.0 billion euros at 4.625 per cent.

Greece currently has no urgent need to draw money from the bond markets as it has built a cash cushion of at least 15 billion euros.

"Our financing needs are fully covered to 2020," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told parliament earlier this month.

But it acts as a psychological milestone, designed to show that the country is on the road to recovery after emerging from its third international debt bailout in August.

In a statement concluding its first post-bailout monitoring mission on Friday, the International Monetary Fund pegged Greek growth this year at 2.4 per cent.

The Greek budget forecasts 2.5-percent growth, better than the expected eurozone average.

The Greek public debt in 2018 climbed to 335 billion euros, or 180.4 per cent, of GDP. It is forecast to fall to 167.8 per cent in 2019.