Bailed-out Cyprus to test bond market in June
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Bailed-out Cyprus says it will issue six-year government bonds every month starting in June as a first step to returning more permanently to international markets after a three-year absence.
Investor interest in European government debt has risen in recent months, reducing the countries' borrowing rates and allowing countries like Greece and Cyprus to tap markets for money. Greece this month sold its first long-term bond since its crisis began four years ago.
The Cypriot finance ministry said Thursday its first bond offering — to be open only to individuals, not companies — will be June 2.
A string of downgrades mainly due to its failing banks knocked Cyprus out of the markets in mid-2011. The country got a 10 billion-euro international bailout a year ago that crushed its banking sector.
