The tender book for the issuance of the new 30-year bond, maturing on June 15, 2054, has been opened, with the initial interest rate set at around 4.3%. It is recalled that the last time the Greek government borrowed through a 30-year bond was in 2021, while the last time the government went to the markets by issuing bonds was last January, when it raised €4 billion and collected bids of €35 billion. In total, it aims to borrow €10 billion for the full year.

The size of the new 30-year bond issue is estimated to be in the range of €2 billion to €3 billion. The government's new exit from the markets with such a long-term issue is facilitated by the recent upgrade of the Greek economy's outlook to "positive" by Standard & Poor's rating agency.

It should be noted that all rating agencies except Moody's Ratings brought Greece back into the investment grade band last year, a position lost in 2010 when the debt crisis began. S&P Global Ratings raised its outlook on Greece to positive from stable on Friday on expectations that continued tight fiscal policy will reduce Greece's public debt proportionally much more, while the growth rate of the Greek economy will remain higher than that of other eurozone countries.