Portugal obtains interest of -0.452% to issue short-term debt

Portugal has achieved a deeper negative interest rate to finance itself in the short term. The Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency (IGCP) was on the debt market this Wednesday to place 1,750 million euros in six and 12-month Treasury bills (T-Bills).

In the case of securities that reach maturity on July 16, 2021, the Portuguese Treasury has placed 1,250 million with an interest rate of -0.452%. This is below the -0.351% obtained in the last auction with this maturity, held on May 20.

In the T-Bills maturing on January 15, 2021, the Treasury issued 500 million with a yield of -0.467%. Also, in this case, there was a fall in interest relative to the last comparable auction, when it had been -0.411%.

After a few weeks of tension in the financial markets, which led Portugal to pay for Treasury bills in April, the response of the European Central Bank and the European Commission to the pandemic crisis eventually calmed the mood.

The President of the IGCP, Cristina Casalinho, admitted this Tuesday that it was the swift response of the European institutions to allow the difficulties experienced by states in the last financial crisis not to be repeated. Portugal was thus once again financing itself in the short-term with negative interest rates, and international investors once again showed interest in national debt.