Greece likely to tap bond markets in coming months, finance minister says

Greece is likely to tap bond markets in the coming months, for the third time this year, to help support its economy which has been hurt by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Thursday.

Greece raised a total of 4.5 billion euros from 15- and 7- year bond issues earlier this year. Government officials told Reuters in May that Greece plans at least two more bond issues by the end of the year.

"It's likely that we'll tap markets in the coming period, in the coming months," Staikouras told Greek Proto Thema radio.

The country, which emerged from bailouts in 2018, sees its economy contracting by 8-13% this year due to a nationwide lockdown it imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Its vital tourism sector, accounting for about 20 percent of economic output, expects huge revenue losses this year...