Ministry sees interest in OFZ bonds returning in Jul–Sep

MOSCOW, Jun 28 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Finance Ministry expects that investor interest in OFZ government bonds will return in the third quarter and plans to raise the volume of offering significantly, Deputy Minister Sergei Storchak told reporters Thursday.

“We have quite a smooth plan of borrowings (for this year) with a smaller focus on the fourth quarter,” he said. “Investors will come back, if not foreign, then our own.”

The ministry fulfilled its OFZ borrowings plan only by 48.4% in the second quarter, when it sold around 217.62 billion ruble OFZ bonds out of a 450 billion ruble plan. The ministry plans to borrow a total of over 1 trillion rubles on the domestic market in 2018.

“The market has swung: we have either to borrow or try to regulate the price of borrowings with such measures,” Storchak said. Raising the OFZ yield is a forced measure for the ministry, he added.

Storchak also said the ministry has enough liquidity at the moment.

(63.1359 rubles – U.S. $1)

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