国际英语新闻：Greece raises 1.95 billion euros in six-month treasury bills auction

ATHENS, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Greece raised 1.95 billion euros (2.52 billion U.S. dollars) at an interest rate of 4.9 percent by selling six-month treasury bills, Debt Management Agency announced on Tuesday.

Local and foreign analysts regard the sale as a crucial test on the market's reaction, as the debt-ridden country resumes the monthly short-term debt sales after a December pause and plans to fully return to the international bond markets during 2011 after a year-long break.

The issue, which had an original target of 1.5 billion euros (1.94 billion dollars), was the first in 2011, and the largest since summer 2010.

The demand on Tuesday was high and the Debt Management Agency obtained more funds than the initial target, since the interest rate was slightly better than analysts' prediction (above 5 percent).

In the previous sale in October, Athens raised 390 million euro (504.8 million dollars) and the interest rate stood at 4.82 percent.

The interest rate secured on Tuesday is close to the one the eurozone country released by the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the support mechanism activated in May 2010.

Under a burden of more than 300 billion euro (388.3 billion dollars), Greece was eventually shut out of international markets due to exceptionally high interest rates in early 2010.

With the aid of the EU and the IMF, Greece pledged harsh measures to put the national economy back on the right track by 2014.

Beyond the regular tranches of the EU-IMF aid in 2010, Greece also launched a monthly short-term auction program which has become a barometer of the markets' sentiment.

Analysts note that Tuesday's high interest reflects worries for the outcome of the austerity and reform program under way since last year to overcome the debt crisis.

Tuesday's sale came amid agony for the course of other ailing European economies and scenarios of more credit rating downgrades of Greek economy by international credit rating agencies in the coming weeks.

The next sale of three-month treasury bills is scheduled for Jan. 18, the Debt Management Agency said.

Greece seeks a total of 20 billion euros (25.8 billion dollars) this year to cover urgent financing needs and continue the repayment of previous loans.