Bond

 Despite more relaxed official statements, the Finance Ministry is gearing up for return to the markets

By Sotiris Nikas

Athens will issue its first bonds in four years later this week and will only sell them to foreign investors, sources have suggested.

By Lefteris Papadimas & Deepa Babington

Greece's first foray into bond markets after a four-year exclusion will be on a «trial and error» basis but the nation expects to fund itself unaided in 2016, its finance minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

Greek 10-year bond yields fell to new four-year lows on Wednesday, with investor appetite increasing after its international lenders agreed to release the next tranche of its bailout programme.

By Anchalee Worrachate

Greek and Portuguese government bonds beat their euro-region peers this quarter as the countries made progress toward returning to international credit markets.

 Timing will depend on the spread between Greek and Portuguese yields

By Sotiris Nikas

The government is moving ahead with its plan for emancipation from its international creditors through the issue of new sovereign debt, with the Finance Ministry speeding up its efforts so that the bonds can be successfully issued at the end of April.

By Alastair Marsh

The penalty that banks in Europe’s most indebted nations pay to borrow compared with those from the richest economies fell to the lowest in four years amid growing confidence in the region’s economic recovery.

Greek bonds fell on Wednesday as Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras (photo) said that while the country is almost ready to return to international financial markets, it is unlikely to do so before European parliamentary elections in May.

Greece’s 10-year yield climbed nine basis points to 6.83 percent.

Photo from a March 2013 protest by bondholders.

The Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, on Friday rejected an appeal by Greek bondholders seeking compensation for having to accept a severe haircut on the value of their investments in the debt restructuring that took place in March 2012.

Greek bond yields dipped on Friday after Standard & Poor's said it could raise Greece's credit ratings if GDP growth were to pick up more substantially, after keeping them deep in junk territory with a stable outlook.

 National Bank reported net profits of 809 mln euros last year

By Evgenia Tzortzi and Yiannis Papadoyiannis