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EU issues 5-bln-euro bond for Portugal

15 September 2011 01:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA.The European Commission issued Wednesday 5 billion euros (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) bond with maturity of 10 years for Portugal, under the context of the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism (EFSM), APA reports quoting Xinhua.

According to the commission, the new bond is the second with a 10 years maturity placed by the EU under the EFSM so far. The 5 billion euros bond, which will mature on 21 Sept. 2021, bore a coupon rate of 2.75 percent, and was priced at mid-swaps 20 basis points.

The European Commission said that demand was "solid." Subscriptions amounted to 7 billion euros and the transaction was finished in three hours.

Substantial investor demand came from across Europe, in which 23 percent came from France, 22 percent from Germany/Austria, 17 percent from Britain, and 12 percent from Asia. The other European nations represented 24 percent.

Over 13 banks and investment banks took part in the transaction, including big ones like Barclays, HSBC, UBS, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.

In the coming weeks, through the EFSM, the EU plans to launch further bonds for 5 billion euro, in one or two transactions with maturities from 5 to 15 years.

For the remainder of 2011, the EU intends to issue one further bond. The combined upcoming funding in 2011 will be used for loans to Ireland and Portugal.