Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Hellenic Republic announced, yesterday, that it had attracted offers worth € 31.9 billion under a debt buy-back scheme, in a book building process that concluded on December 11.
According to a press release issued by the Public Debt Management Agency, the bonds were offered in exchange for six-month zero-coupon notes to be issued by the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), worth € 11.29 billion. The average repurchase price was set at 33.8 cents per euro nominal value of the Greek bonds.
The Greek state expects to deliver the EFSF notes to the relevant holders on December 18, under the strict condition that the EFSF approves an increase of € 1.29 billion in the aggregate principal amount of notes available to the Greek state as part of the programme, as the amount had been originally set at € 10 billion. The completion of the debt buy-back programme is conditional for the disbursement of the next aid tranche to Greece. The European Commission expects a decision on the tranche’s release to be reached at today’s Eurogroup, according to a European Commission spokesman.
