ATHENS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Greece raised 1.625 billion euros (2.1 billion U.S. dollars) in a new three-month treasury bill auction on Tuesday at a slightly lower interest rate compared to a previous sale in September, the country's Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) announced.
PDMA secured a 4.24-percent interest rate for the 12-week treasury bills, down from 4.31 in the previous auction on September 18.
Local analysts noted that Tuesday's interest rate is the lowest recorded in a PDMA sale since May in a sign of "increasing trust" in Greece's financial prospects.
Over the past two years, the debt-ridden country seeks to cover its short-term funding needs in the context of a monthly treasury bills auction program.
The program is supplementary to the multi-billion euro aid secured since May 2010 from European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avert a chaotic default.
Since 2010, Greece is shut out of international markets and relies on the rescue loans in return for painful austerity and reform policies to slash deficits and boost growth to exit the crisis.
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