Portugal to Auction Debt After Banks' Threat
PORTUGAL, MOODY'S, RATINGS, CREDIT AGENCY, BONDS, DEBT, EURO ZONE
Reuters
| 06 Apr 2011 | 01:08 AM ET
Portugal should be able to sell short-term debt on Wednesday, albeit at a steep cost, despite a threat by top local banks to stop buying government debt unless the country seeks a foreign loan soon.
In political limbo since the government resigned last month, and preparing for a snap election on June 5, Portugal has seen its credit ratings slashed and debt yields spike.
The banks' ultimatum has pushed the country closer towards becoming the third in the euro zone to require an international bailout, after both Greece and Ireland were rescued by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
But any possible debt-buying strike is unlikely to affect six- and 12-month Treasury bills to be offered on Wednesday, so Portugal should buy itself some more time by placing up to 1 billion euros ($1.42 billion) in T-bills, as it plans.
"They should be able to kick the can a little bit further down the road with that sale," said David Schnautz, debt strategist at Commerzbank in London.
"There's not too much on offer and it's a very short-term oriented policy, but the yield on the six month issue has been flirting with 6 percent, which is outrageously high," he said.
Analysts say the high yields, which have already topped 10 percent for five-year bonds, are unsustainable and that Portugal will eventually have to request a bailout, despite the caretaker government's resistance.
Ioannis Sokos of BNP Paribas said pressure was rising even inside Portugal for it to request foreign help.
"I don't think that tomorrow is going to be the end of the story for Portugal. But there has been a very important signal from the banks for the future. Portugal can still make it through April, but probably won't get to June without a bailout," he said.
Portugal has to repay over 4.2 billion euros in maturing bonds on April 15, and then another 4.9 billion euros in June.
Including coupon payments and deficit financing, its requirements until June are put at 12 to 15 billion euros.
The caretaker government has said it will resist any bailout or a loan as they would impose tough conditions on the country.
"From the pure cash perspective, April should be OK, even with coupons and deficit financing, but then if the domestic bid disappears, there's not much room for manoeuvre," Commerzbank's Schnautz said, referring to the local banks' threats.
He expected the six-month T-bills to yield between 5.5 and 6 percent — about double the 2.98 percent average yield in the previous auction on March 2 — while the borrowing cost for the 12-month paper should rise above 6 percent compared to 4.33 percent in mid-March.
The October 2011 T-bill issue to be auctioned on Wednesday yielded 6.68 percent bid in the secondary market on Tuesday, but the ask yield was just 3.55 percent, making the secondary market an unreliable reference, traders said.
The March 2012 issue was at over 7.5 percent bid, 4.6 percent ask. Portugal's benchmark 10-year bond yield hit a euro lifetime record of over 9 percent on Tuesday.