TIMES ONLINE: A sudden sell-off in Greek sovereign bonds yesterday has pushed up the cost of borrowing for the embattled state to record levels, casting doubts on its ability to refinance up to €15 billion of debt over the next two months.
The surge in Greek bond yields, which reached 7.1 per cent, prompted the Finance Minister to warn that the present interest rate burden was unsustainable. The renewed fears about the Greek finances hit the euro, which fell against the dollar.
The rush to sell Greek debt was sparked by rumours that Athens was seeking to renegotiate a proposed rescue package involving loans from eurozone states and the IMF. At the same time, it emerged that Greece was trying to rebrand itself among investors as an emerging market bond issuer.
Eurozone states and the IMF have promised to provide rescue funds if Greece cannot borrow from the markets, but Germany is insisting that any such lending should be at commercial rates. George Papaconstantinou, the Finance Minister, denied that he was trying to renegotiate the terms, but his statement failed to prevent the market from pounding Greek bond prices. The sell-off widened the yield premium on Greek debt against benchmark German bunds from 3.6 to 4.08 percentage points — a record risk premium for Greece.
Credit default swaps on Greek debt, a form of bond insurance, also gained ground, raising the cost of insuring €10 million of Greek bonds from €344,000 to €400,000. New anxiety over the risk of a Greek default affected the euro, which fell 0.8 per cent against the dollar to 1.338. >>> Carl Mortished, World Business Editor | Wednesday, April 07, 2010
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Rates Rise as Fear Returns on Greece: Greece's financial crisis flared back into view on Tuesday as doubts about a rescue plan rattled the euro and sent the country's bonds tumbling to their lowest levels since the problems began. >>> Charles Forelle and Tom Lauricella | Wednesday, April 07, 2010
LE FIGARO: L'inquiétude ressurgit sur la dette grecque : Des rumeurs laissant penser que la Grèce n'accepterait pas les conditions imposées par le FMI ont fait bondir les taux grecs à un plus haut depuis le début de la crise sur sa dette. La capacité du pays à emprunter pour mai est remise en question. >>> Par Hayat Gazzane | Mercredi 07 Avril 2010
