Greece draws strong bond demand

Reuters
"ATHENS (Reuters) - Debt-stricken Greece drew strong demand for a crucial bond issue on Thursday but paid a steep risk premium that underscored its plea to Germany and other EU partners for support to help lower its borrowing costs.A day after the government announced draconian new austerity measures, a 5 billion euro (4.5 billion pound) 10-year syndicated bond was more than three times oversubscribed at a price of about 6.4 percent -- twice what Berlin pays, banking sources said. ....Athens needs to borrow 53 billion euros this year -- at least 20 billion of it by end May -- to repay existing debt and cover its huge budget deficit."We are compensating the markets to re-enter," the country's new debt agency chief, Petros Christodoulou, told Reuters.He said Athens aimed to bring its borrowing costs down to "levels not far wider than Ireland".