Portugal auctioned 750 million euros ($1.04 billion) in 10-year bonds on Wednesday at an average yield of 3.58 percent in its first auction since April 2011 as a full exit of its bailout program approaches.
The country’s borrowing costs dipped in the run-up to the auction with the benchmark 10-year bond yields falling to an eight-year low last week. They fell further following the auction, with the 10-year paper yielding 3.636 percent on Wednesday.
The auction comes as Portugal’s lenders, the International Monetary fund (IMF), the European Union and the European Central Bank have started to review the nation’s performance under bailout for the last time, as the country prepares to exit its rescue program in May.
Portugal’s debt agency IGCP planned to sell between 500 million euros and 750 million euros of February 2024 bonds. The yield fetched at auction was the lowest on record for a 10-year issue.
