Portugal returns to negative interest rates on short-term debt
The Portuguese Treasury went to the market this Wednesday to issue T-Bills.
Portugal issued 1,250 million euros in short-term debt with a negative interest rate. After paying for Treasury Bills (T-Bills) at the peak of the pandemic, investors again showed confidence in the national debt at Wednesday’s double auction.
The Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency (IGCP) auctioned 1 billion euros of 3-month T-Bills at an interest rate of -0.438%. This compares with the 0.038% paid on April 15 at the last comparable auction.
With the 3-month T-Bills, IGCP placed 250 million this Wednesday, with a yield of -0.48%. In the last auction, this interest rate was at -0.09%.
The difference is that the last time Portugal financed itself with these maturities was at the peak of the pandemic, when investors were more nervous about the impact of the coronavirus on the countries’ public finances.
