Athens ponders bond issue timetable

Despite Greece's scheduled exit from the bailout program in three weeks' time, Greek bonds have not seen any recent improvement, demonstrating that investors remain reserved about the country's prospects - and sending Athens a clear message that returning to the market will be no walk in the park.

The yield of the benchmark 10-year sovereign bond reverted to an upward course on Monday, climbing to 3.973 percent. It therefore remains a long way from the 12-year low of 3.60 percent it had reached in late January. Meanwhile, the yield on seven-year debt rose to 3.45 percent on Monday.

Fund managers have told Kathimerini that an issue of a three- or five-year bond would be more feasible for Greece, as an issue of 10-year paper would be far from certain to succeed at the moment.

The climate on international markets remains unsettled and liquidity is at particularly...