Greece raised €4.06 billion from the sale of short-term treasury bills today.
This money that will help it make a crucial debt repayment at the end of the week.
With the disbursement of a massive €31.5 billion installment from Greece's international bailout long delayed, the country's finances have gone down to the wire.
Without today's sale, Athens would have found it impossible to repay the €5 billion treasury bill maturing on Friday.
Friday is the day on which Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said Greece would run out of money.
Despite concerns over Greece's long-term economic outlook, the country's euro partners and the International Monetary Fund are expected to agree on the release of the next tranche of the bailout over the next week.
The country's debt management agency raised €2.76 billion from the sale of 4-week bills at an interest rate of 3.95%, and €1.3 billion of 13-week bills at 4.2%. The sale of the latter came at a marginally lower interest rate than the 4.24% seen in the previous equivalent auction in October.
The debt management agency will also be accepting non-competitive bids of up to another 30% of the auctioned amount until Thursday, as occurs with all Greek treasury bill sales - as a result, the country should be in a position to cover Friday's repayment.
Greece has been locked out of the international long-term debt market by exceptionally high interest rates demanded for its bonds since 2010, and has been relying on funds from rescue loans by other European countries that use the euro, and the International Monetary Fund, since May that year.
It has been carrying out short-term debt sales to bolster its cash supply while also receiving bailout loans.
Italian rates fall in sale of 12-month bonds
Italy has easily raised €6.5 billion in the sale of 12-month bonds that saw its borrowing rates drop.
The Italian Treasury today paid a yield of 1.76% on the paper, down from 1.94% at the last such auction in October. Demand for the bonds was 1.76 times the amount on offer.
The borrowing rates of indebted European countries like Italy have fallen since the European Central Bank said in September it was willing to buy the bonds of governments willing to ask for help. That has boosted investor confidence in the continent's public finances.
A strong result in the recent sale of retail bonds has eased pressure on Italy's need to hold debt auctions for the remainder of the year.
