The Ministry of Public Finance (MFP) yesterday rejected the offers made by banks for 1-year certificates, considering the yield asked by bankers as too high; this is the first time since October when public debt administrators end an auction without drawing cash from the market, Mediafax reports. According to dealers, the yield in the secondary market stood at 5.85 pc, which would have meant a substantial increase from the 5.29 pc achieved in the previous operation for similar bonds. Banks posted offers worth RON 1 bln, against a planned amount of RON 800 M. Yields gradually declined since the beginning of the year until April, against the background of a key interest rate reduction by the Central Bank (BNR). The trend stopped in May, when BNR decided to interrupt the cycle of monetary policy rate cuts because of political changes that occurred in Romania superimposed to the aggravation of investors’ fears concerning the future of the euro zone. MFP plans to attract a total RON 3.5 bln in June, by selling state bonds to the local market, close to the RON 3.54 bln it borrowed in May. In the next auction, scheduled for Thursday, the treasury will put on sale 4-year bonds worth RON 400 M.
