Greek short-term borrowing costs tumble after return to bond market

ATHENS, Greece - Greece's borrowing costs in a short-term debt sale have tumbled, days after the country returned to the international bond markets.

The interest rate on a 13-week treasury bill issued Tuesday fell to 2.45 per cent, compared with 3.1 per cent for a similar issue last month, according to the public debt management agency.

Greece raised 1.625 billion euros ($2.25 billion) in Tuesday's sale, which was 2.73 times oversubscribed.

After being locked out of the international bond market for four years by excessively high interest rates, Greece sold its first five-year bond since 2010 last week. The auction was eight times oversubscribed, and the country raised 3 billion euros at a 4.95 per cent yield.

Athens has been relying on international bailout funds worth 240 billion euros since nearly going bankrupt in 2010.