EBRD buys slice of NBG covered bond

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday it had invested in the first publicly sold covered bond issued by a Greek bank since the government in Athens returned to international bond markets this year.

The development bank said it bought 30 million euros of the 750-million-euro offering by the National Bank of Greece.

NBG's covered bonds - debt backed by collateral such as mortgages - is the first debt sold publicly by a Greek bank since the sovereign made a high-profile return to bond markets in July.

"This [NBG transaction] sends a strong signal to foreign and domestic investors that after many tough years the outlook for Greece has changed remarkably for the better," EBRD official Lucyna Stanczak-Wuczynska said in a note.

"The high demand shows us that appetite has returned, and this is good news for Greece and a...

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