LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal on Thursday swapped over 4.5 billion euros (3.22 billion pounds) in bonds expiring in 2017 and 2018 for 4 billion euros in much longer maturities, alleviating its medium-term bond redemptions while taking advantage of a drop in yields since the start of 2015.
The IGCP debt agency bought back nearly 2.36 billion euros of October 2017, 4.35 percent coupon bonds, and almost 2.18 billion euros in 4.45 percent June 2018 bonds.
Those were replaced with nearly 3.13 billion euros in 5.65 percent February 2024 bonds and some 876 million euros in 3.875 percent February 2030 bonds. In a previous bond exchange in November, Lisbon swapped 1.75 billion euros total in debt.
Despite a rise in bond yields from record lows in the past month due to concerns over Greece, they are still much lower than at the start of the year.
The country returned to normal market financing in the course of 2014 following a debt crisis that forced it to resort to a 78 billion euro EU/IMF bailout in 2011, which it exited last May.