The European Union’s two bailout funds increased their scheduled debt sales to take account of planned aid for Portugal, saying they will sell bonds for a total of €15.3 billion ($21.8 billion) between May 23rd and July 15th to help fund the Portuguese and Irish rescue packages.

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) plan to sell a total of 13 bonds in 2011 compared with no more than eight under an original plan for Ireland, the EU said today.

Both entities have already gone to the market a total of three times this year, leaving 10 more sales in 2011. The EFSF and EFSM intend to issue a total of four benchmark bonds in the second quarter valued at €3 billion to €5 billion each, the EU said.

In the second half of 2011, the EFSF intends to organise a further four bond issues in the same range and the EFSM plans an extra two similar debt sales. "The calendars are closely co-ordinated to ensure smooth market operations over the entire duration of the support programs," the European Commission said.

The debt sales for Portugal and Ireland "should be" mainly maturities of five to 10 years denominated in euro, according to the commission.

The AAA-rated EFSF and EFSM are each providing €26 billion for Portugal, which is also getting an equivalent amount from the IMF. Out of the €85 billion package for Ireland, the EFSF is providing €17.7 billion and the EFSM €22.5 billion. Greece's earlier €110 billion rescue involved loans directly from euro-area governments and the IMF.

The EFSM conducted its first two bond sales for Ireland in January and March, while the EFSF made its debut sale in January. Each entity sold €5 billion of five-year securities in January and the EFSM followed in March with the sale of €4.6 billion of seven-year bonds to raise money for Ireland and non-euro EU member Romania.

Bloomberg