Euro rallies on Greece bond buyback news

The euro has made gains on forex trading as Greece launches its bond buyback plan.


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By :  ,  Financial Analyst

The euro has rallied versus the majority of its forex trading partners this afternoon on news Greece is launching a major bond buyback programme in a bid to stabilise its mountainous debt.

Policymakers in Athens will offer to buy back €10 billion (£8.1 billion) of its bonds from private investors for between 32 per cent and 40 per cent of their face value and they will be paid in six-month bonds from the European Union's European Financial Stability Facility.

It is hoped the buyback will cut some €20 billion from the country's debt and comes less than a year after the country's private debt holders conceded to a large-scale writedown in the value of Greek bonds.

The buyback was signed off in a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels last week, which also saw the country's latest tranche of bailout funding approved for release.

At 15:10 GMT, the euro appreciated by 0.4 per cent in trading with the dollar to €1 buying $1.304, while it also gained against the yuan, yen and pound to 8.123 yuan, 107.260 yen and £0.811.

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