Portugal readies 5-year syndicated bond -paper
LISBON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Portugal is preparing to issue a 5-year syndicated bond in the next few days as it strives to return to regular financing in the debt market, Portugal daily Diario Economico reported on Thursday citing market sources.
Despite the worst recession since the 1970s, investors are increasingly confident that Portugal will be able to return to the long-term bond market before the September deadline set by its EU/IMF bailout.
Diario Economico wrote that the final decision on the issuance of the syndicated bond will depend on the success of an ongoing government road show with investors in the United States, as well as next Monday's Eurogroup meeting and still-to-be-announced data on the how the budget ended last year.
Portugal sold 2.5 billion euros of 3-, 12- and 18-month treasury bills on Wednesday at much lower yields than at previous auctions, an auction that Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho deemed "fantastic".
The country started issuing longer, 18-month T-bills last year and then conducted a debt swap of paper soon to mature for longer-dated bonds on Oct. 3 as part of its plan to stage a gradual return to debt markets.
(Reporting by Daniel Alvarenga; editing by Patrick Graham)