A car bomb exploded outside the Bank of Greece in Athens yesterday morning in an audacious attack hours before a landmark bond issue.

No group claimed responsibility for the 6am attack that shattered windows at the central bank but left no-one injured.

The attack hit a largely commercial area a few streets away from the Greek parliament and came a day before German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Athens.

Police said two anonymous calls — to a news website and a newspaper — gave a 45-minute warning.

Apart from a couple of security guards, no-one was in the immediate area.

Greece also returned to the international debt market after four years yesterday with politicians trumpeting an oversubscribed bond issue as a massive success.

“The evident target of the attackers is to change this image and change the agenda,” government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said.

“We will not allow the attackers to achieve their aim.”

Security was expected to be tight for Ms Merkel’s visit today, with protests banned in large parts of Athens.

Germany has been the single largest contributor to the bailout package and has therefore drawn the ire of most Greeks for the harsh conditions imposed by international creditors.

The “economic restructuring” has sent unemployment soaring and wiped out a quarter of the Greek economy.

The jobless rate marginally fell to 26.7 per cent in January from 27.2 per cent a month before, figures released yesterday showed.