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Summary Greece paid sharply lower rates to raise 1.3b euros ($1.7b) in a sale of 6-month treasury bills.
Total bids reached 2.62 billion euros and the amount finally accepted was 1.30 billion euros, the debt management agency said in a statement, with the interest paid to investors 4.55 percent, down from 4.80 percent at the last equivalent sale on March 6 which had raised 1.14 billion euros.The auction is Greeces second since a landmark exchange and writedown with private creditors last month to erase 107 billion euros from the countrys short- and medium-term debt.Greece has already exchanged over 94.8 billion euros in debt issued under Greek law and will add another 20.27 billion euros in bonds and state utility loans guaranteed by the government under foreign law.Remaining bondholders have been given until April 20 to join the operation.The debt rollover, supported by a global bank association, was tied to a 130-billion-euro bailout approved by the eurozone in February.The International Monetary Fund last week also decided on a new 28 billion euro loan for Greece, payable over four years.Greece has a public debt of over 350 billion euros and was forced to seek a first EU-IMF bailout in May 2010 when it could no longer raise funding at sustainable rates on the markets to cover its obligations.
