ATHENS, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Greece reopened its seven-year bond issue from April 2020 and drew another 1.5 billion euros (1.59 billion U.S. dollars) on Wednesday, at an interest rate of around 2.5 percent.

       The high demand for the re-issue, amounting to 4.8 billion euros according to a bourse filing by the country's Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA), resulted in the reduction of the interest rate by five basis points from the original guidance.

       The bond matures on April 22, 2027. Its original issue bore a 2 percent coupon and a 2.013 percent interest two years ago.

       "Greece has received a strong vote of confidence from the international markets, gathering high demand and quality of capital. The cost of borrowing may have been high, due to the adverse international conditions, but it is still lower than in 2019," Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said in a statement.

       Greece's return to the markets after three months came just five days after the upgrading of its credit rating by Standard & Poor's to just one notch below investment grade.

       So far this year the PDMA has drawn 4.5 billion euros from the bond markets, while its intention for the full year of 2022 is to draw 12 billion euros, according to the state budget. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars)