Portugal sells bonds worth 1.5 billion euros (nearly $2 billion)

Portugal sells bonds worth 1.5 billion euros

Xinhua

LISBON– The Portuguese government sold bonds totaling 1.5 billion euros (about 1.7 billion U.S. dollars), Portuguese Treasury and Debt Management Agency said on Wednesday.

The government raised 1.155 billion euros from the 12-month bonds sale with 1.277 percent yield, down from 1.61 percent last month. It said the market demand for the debt bonds was more than double the amount offered.

The government also collected 345 million euros from a three-month bonds sale with the yield slightly up at 0.737 percent compared with 0.67 percent in January. The market demand was almost four times higher than the amount available.

Portugal made a successful comeback to the financial markets in January this year when it started to sell long-term bonds.

The country is suffering continuous economic recession for the past few years and is receiving a 78-billion-euro bailout from the troika comprising the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar said earlier Wednesday that the government has revised its 2013 economic forecast from previously estimated 1-percent contraction to 2 percent.

Portugal’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 3.2 percent in 2012, more than expected, according to latest figure released by the country’s National Statistic Institute (INE).
__________________________________________
Video: Anti-austerity protests on Portugal’s streets

___________________________________________