Greece reportedly will announce a long-term bond sale as soon as Wednesday, the first time it has had access to capital markets since March 2010. But the question to ask is, is it too soon?
Some are calling this the official end of the European debt crisis. Yet, only two years ago Greece was at the brink of breaking up the entire European Union and it was forced to agree to the largest ever government-debt restructuring.
It is not all sunshine and lollipops for Greece from here. The nation still struggles with sluggish growth, a high debt-to-GDP ratio and the highest unemployment level in the eurozone. However, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest World Economic Outlook it expects Greece to return to growth in 2014 and that the current account balance will swing into the black this year too.
Whether investors will buy into the Greek recovery story remains to be seen. The bonds are expected offer a significantly higher yield than many other sovereign bonds, which could tempt more risk-hungry investors, or at least those who have forgotten or choose to overlook the heavy losses such investors suffered just a few years ago.
Moody’s has Greek debt rated at Caa3, or nine notches below investment grade. Standard and Poor’s and Fitch both rank Greece at B-, which is six notches below investment grade.
Greece will announce a 2 billion euro ($2.76 billion) sale of five-year notes, said people familiar with the matter. The notes may begin selling Thursday.
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