Greece raises $2b from treasury bill auction

The interest rate was set at 4.65 percent, slightly higher than the 4.55 percent Athens secured in the previous auction of similar six-months treasury bills in April 13 and lower than the 5-percent threshold local and foreign analysts had expected. In January the interest rate for the same treasury bills stood at 1.38 percent.

Tuesday's auction was the first borrowing test for the debt- ridden country since May, when the safety net created by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to financially support Greece and other ailing economies to overcome the global crisis was activated.

Greek officials deemed this test of markets' mood toward Greek national economy quite positive, as bids submitted overpassed the amount asked for initially.

The Greek government expected to raise 1.25 billion euros from competitive bids and got an additional 375 million euros from non-competitive bids.

The most pleasant surprise for Greek officials was that apart from domestic buyers, there was also interest by foreign investors; Kazinform cites China Daily.

See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version