Analysis: Greek bonds snapping at heels of southern Europe’s best in class

Greece is heading into an election weekend with its public debt trading near the levels enjoyed by first-class peripheral countries, a decade after a debt crisis forced a dramatic reshaping of its borrowing.

The premium investors demand to hold Greek debt instead of that of top-ranked peripheral countries such as Spain is narrowing and could even vanish completely as its debt profile has improved and its economy enjoys the support of European funds for years to come.

At the end of the crisis, Greece's private sector was completely under-leveraged, with one of the lowest loan-to-deposit ratios among advanced economies and a deep investment gap compared with the rest of the euro area, Bank of America said recently.

Furthermore, almost 80% of central government debt is in the hands of the official sector, with a weighted average maturity of close to 20 years and...