Greece's government breathed a sigh of relief today as its latest bond offering received a warm welcome from investors, albeit at a price, with the coupon on the bond nearly twice that of German bonds.

The issue comes just a day after a new austerity package that has prompted more fierce protests from pensioners, civil servants and unions.

Analysts said the €5bn issue was nearly three times oversubscribed, with most strong demand from commercial banks, pension funds and life insurance companies.
The coupon interest rate is likely to be 6.4%, 2 percentage points higher even than Portugal, the next weakest eurozone country.

The European Commission, the European Central Bank and EU governments all praised the latest round of austerity measures that included pay cuts, a pensions freeze and tax increases. The Greek government needs to refinance €53bn in total this year and €20bn by end May.

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