France to sell up to EU9.5 billion ($12.8 billion) in debt after losing S&P AAA credit rating

France to Sell Up to EU9.5 Billion ($12.8 billion) in debt after losing S&P AAA credit rating

 
By Anchalee Worrachate and Mark Deen
Bloomberg 

France will seek to raise as much as 9.5 billion euros ($12.8 billion) today in its first sale of medium and long-term debt after it lost the top credit rating at Standard & Poor’s.

The sale will include between 6.5 billion euros and 8 billion euros of two, three and four-year notes, as well as between 1 billion euros and 1.5 billion euros of inflation- linked bonds maturing between 2016 and 2040.

The Jan. 13 S&P downgrade to AA+ from AAA, which was flagged as a possibility by the New York-based rating company more than a month ago, didn’t affect a French bill sale this week or trigger a sell-off of existing bonds. The sale today represents a tougher test of investor appetite for French debt at a time when Europe’s second-largest economy may have entered a recession and the region’s debt crisis is far from over.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-19/france-to-sell-up-to-eu9-5-billion-in-debt-after-losing-aaa.html#fadetoblack