12.08.2013

For the fifth time the Ministry of Finance reopened an issue of 5-year government bonds maturing on 23 January 2018 for the fifth time. Bonds of BGN 50 million were offered at the auction held on 12 August 2013, with the yield being 2.38 per cent. The offers placed were for BGN 84.15 million, which corresponds to a coverage ratio of 1.68. After the fifth reopening, the total volume of the issue in circulation reached BGN 235 million.

In addition to the traditional interest from banks to the medium-term segment of the debt curve, pension and investment funds also took active part in the auction. The investor base of the approved amount is allocated as follows: banks - 66.50%, pension funds - 25.70%, investment and guarantee funds - 7.60% and insurance companies - 0.20 per cent.

The average yield of the auction is lower than that of EUR-denominated bonds with similar maturity of a number of countries like Portugal (5.73%), Slovenia (5.41%), Hungary (5.15%), Croatia (4.37%), Romania (3.61%), Turkey (3.26%), Spain (3.12%), Italy (2.88%), Lithuania (2.53%), etc.