Greece tries first 30-year debt sale since 2008 financial crisis

Greece is issuing its longest-maturity bonds since 2008, completing the country’s full return to debt markets.

The nation drew in more than 17 billion euros ($20.3 billion) of orders for its sale of 30-year bonds via banks, showing investors’ long-term confidence and appetite for yields that are likely to be the highest in the euro area. The demand allowed the country to trim its pricing guidance by as much as 10 basis points from initial levels. The sale is a sign of just how far Greece has come over the past decade. At the height of the euro-area debt crisis in 2012, 10-year yields skyrocketed above 44%, with the country locked out of international markets. Now, yields are below 1%, giving the government a chance to tap long-end bonds and complete its yield curve.