Greece on Tuesday said it will issue a seven-year bond "in the near future" as it prepares to shore up its economy during a costly coronavirus lockdown. In a stock exchange announcement, Athens said it had "mandated Citi, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Societe Generale" for the offering with a maturity of April 2027. Greece in January issued a 15-year bond that raised 2.5 billion euros ($2.75 billion). The country had originally aimed to borrow between 4.0 and 8.0 billion euros in 2020, according to the government's budget. But the government has earmarked 24 billion euros to support the economy this year amid an ongoing coronavirus shutdown. In a report released earlier Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast a 10-percent recession for Greece in 2020. jph/pvh