The Hellenic Republic reaped the benefits of the single-currency market as it raised €2.6bn ($2.4bn) at a cost below the European Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) for the first time.

Greece, which adopted the single currency late last year, kick-started its domestic euro-denominated funding programme Tuesday with a bond issue priced between flat and one basis point through Euribor. The Republic sold bonds through an international syndicate comprising UBS Warburg, Goldman Sachs and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, as well as Alpha Bank and National Bank of Greece (NBG).