By T. Tsiros
[email protected]
Greece’s Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) is expected to announced its program for covering the country’s borrowing needs for 2019 by the end of the year, even before Christmas, by some accounts.
According to information gleaned by “N”, the program will allow for the prospect of a new foray into the markets in 2019 – an election year in Greece – assuming that conditions in international lending markets are judged as positive.
In contacts with representatives of investments funds last week in New York City, on the sidelines of an annual Capital Link event, PDMA General Director Dimitris Tsakonas emphasized that a “cash cushion” accumulated by the Greek state – primarily through bailout funds allocated by institutional creditors through the third memorandum – is sufficient to cover the country’s borrowing needs until 2022. The statement is considered as a message to the markets that the country has the “luxury” of avoiding the issuance of new paper in 2019 if yields are judged as unfavorable for Athens.
At the same time, the PDMA’s plan aims to clarify that Greece wants to retain contacts with international markets through new bond issues, ones aimed at easing yields.
