Greece raises USD 3.5 billion in milestone bond issue

The Greek government says it has raised 3 billion euros (USD 3.5 billion) from the country's first bond issue in more than three years, which was more than two times oversubscribed.
The government said the yield for the five-year bond was set at 4.62 per cent today, showing slightly improved investor confidence since the 2014 issue, where the yield was 4.95 percent.
It said most of the buyers were global investors and not speculative traders looking for a quick profit.
Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said the result was satisfactory, and added that Greece would proceed with further bond issues before the end of its bailout program in little over a year.

The country was locked out of bond markets in 2010, and has since been kept afloat by international rescue loans.