Greece pays 1.5% to raise 1.5 billion euros in 10-year bond

ATHENS, Greece – Greece’s finance minister says the country has raised 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion) from investors by reopening a 10-year bond issue from earlier this year.

Christos Staikouras says Tuesday’s sale attracted “strong demand” and was “significantly oversubscribed.”

He said it carried a yield of 1.5%, substantially lower than the 3.9% yield in the main 10-year issue in March.

The country had raised 2.5 billion euros from the March issue, which was its first of benchmark 10-year bonds since 2010. That year Greece descended into a crippling debt crisis and was shunned for years by international investors.

Instead, the country had to rely on international bailout loans, released on condition it made harsh spending cuts, drastically increased taxes and reformed its battered economy.