Top timing for Greece's 15-year bond

Recently upgraded Greece will - barring any major surprises - issue its first ever 15-year bond on Tuesday, with the book set to open early in the morning.

International lenders Barclays, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and JP Morgan are the joint lead managers of the issue and the aim is to draw around 2 billion euros (between 1.5 and 2.5 billion), although the precise amount has not yet been decided and will depend on the final level of the interest rate.

Sources say that the initial estimate on the starting interest rate is about 1.90 percent, which would be very good news as it would not push Greece's average borrowing rate above this level; therefore, as the European Stability Mechanism has noted, Greece will be able to proceed with a second payment to the International Monetary Fund this year earlier than due.

The Public Debt Management...