国际英语新闻：Greece issues 1.95 billion euros in treasury bills at high rate

ATHENS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Greece on Tuesday raised an additional 1.95 billion euros (2.63 billion U.S. dollars) through a new auction of 13-week treasury bills at a yield of 3.65 percent, the government said.

The Greek Public Debt Management Agency initially aimed to raise 1.5 billion euros (2.02 billion U.S. dollars) but eventually also accepted non-competitive bids reaching up to 450 million euros (607.37 U.S. dollars).

Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said at a press conference that the outcome was regarded as a positive by Athens.

Greek analysts noted, though, that the rate was still high, despite more concrete pledges by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to financially support Greece through a new mechanism if the Greek government opted for such a request in the coming days.

In a similar January auction, Greece offered a yield of 1.67 percent, while last October, before the outbreak of the debt crisis in the country, the rate was only 0.35 percent.

Greece last week raised 1.9 billion euros (2.56 billion U.S. dollars) in 6- and 12-month treasury bills. The country this year has borrowed more than 27 billion euros (36.44 billion U.S. dollars).

Athens needs around 9 billion euros (12.15 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of May to cover its financial obligations and a total 50 billion euros (67.49 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of the year.