LISBON, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Portugal tapped the markets to the tune of 1.75 billion euros on Wednesday with two treasury bill auctions, according to Portugal's debt management agency IGCP.
The shorter-dated paper, 500 million euros worth of 6-month bills, expiring on March 16, 2018, took a yield of minus 0.363 percent. The 12-month bills, maturing on Sept. 21, 2018, amounted to 1.25 billion euros with a minus 0.345 percent yield.
Both yields are record lows for Portugal at these maturities, according to Jornal de Negocios. When Portugal last placed equivalent paper, on July 19, the 6-month bills carried minus 0.292 percent yields while the 12-month notes minus 0.259 percent.
The IGCP said that both maturities were highly oversubscribed, with bids reaching 2.63 billion euros for the 12-month bills and 1.415 billion for the 6-month notes.
High demand had been expected, with Portuguese debt having rallied all week on the back of surprise decision last week by ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) to return Portugal to investment grade status.
In a further boon to Portugal's economic climate, S&P raised on Tuesday Banco Santander Totta's long-term debt rating to investment grade, with a hike from BB+ to BBB-.
Santander Totta is Portugal's second largest private bank.
