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