ATHENS, November 6 (RIA Novosti) – Greece auctioned 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in short-term debt on Tuesday, with the yield slightly easing from a previous auction, the Public Debt Management Agency reported.
The auction for six-month T-bills was priced to yield 4.41 percent compared with 4.46 percent yielded at an auction in October.
Greek banks traditionally buy most of the T-bill issues to offer them as collateral for the local central bank to get much-needed liquidity.
Greece has to resort to expensive short-term borrowings before the European Union and the IMF unlock a 31.5 billion euro tranche of bailout funds for the debt-saddled country. The international creditors are waiting until the Greek parliament votes for further budget cuts worth 13.5 billion euros to qualify for the bailout funds.
The bill on fresh austerity measures was introduced into Greek parliament on Monday and will be put to a vote on Wednesday. The discussions of Greece’s belt-tightening policies are being held amid a 48-hour general strike that started on Tuesday.
Greece, which is teetering on the brink of sovereign default, has relied on bailout loans since May 2010.