Spain easily raises nearly €3.9bn as govt. mulls financial help

PanARMENIAN.Net - Spain easily raised nearly €3.9 billion ($4.9 billion) as the government mulls whether to tap a financial facility that has been partly designed to ease the financial pressure on the country, The Associated Press reports.

The Treasury sold €1.71 billion in 3-year bonds on Thursday, Nov 22, at an average interest rate of 3.66 percent, unchanged from the last such auction earlier this month.

It sold €644 million in 5-year bonds at 4.52 percent, less than the 4.68 percent rate seen before. It also raised €1.52 billion from the sale of bonds maturing in 2021 at a rate of 5.55 percent.

The sale exceeded the Treasury's targeted maximum of €3.5 billion and demand averaged twice the amount offered.

The government of recession-wracked Spain says it needs to know the conditions to any application for international help.