Portugal’s borrowing costs rose as it sold 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) of bills with maturities of as much as 18 months. The securities due in May 2014 were issued at an average yield of 2.99 percent, the country’s debt management agency said. That compares with an average yield of 2.967 percent at a previous auction of 18-month bills on Sept. 19. The auction attracted bids for 1.9 times the amount offered, compared with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.4 in September. The debt agency also sold 500 million euros of six-month bills due in May 2013 at an average yield of 2.169 percent, attracting bids for 4.5 times the amount offered. That compares with an average yield of 1.839 percent at a previous auction of six-month bills on Oct. 17, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.8. Portugal sold 300 million euros of three-month bills due in February 2013 at an average yield of 1.936 percent, attracting bids for 5.1 times the amount offered. That compares with an average yield of 1.366 percent at a previous auction of three- month bills on Oct. 17, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 8.1. The IGCP, as the debt agency is known, on Nov. 15 said that the total indicative amount for today’s auctions was between 1.75 billion euros and 2 billion euros. Today’s bill sale was the last auction of 2012. To contact the reporter on this story: Joao Lima in Lisbon at jlima1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Henrique Almeida at halmeida5@bloomberg.net

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