Raiffeisen: Bonds from Finance Ministry could help strengthen the RON

The bond issue worth 1.5 billion RON (some 441 million euros) announced for March by the Finance Ministry, could have a marginal impact on the exchange rate of the RON, amid potentially bigger interest on the part of foreign investors than those shown for bonds issued in February, believe analysts of Raiffeisen in Vienna. The 1.5 billion-RON bonds will be the first to be issued with a five-year maturity, since the Finance Ministry resumed government securities auctions sometime in January, after a year and a half hiatus. The auction is scheduled for the 1st of March, and the fixed coupon announced by the Ministry of Finance will be of 6.5%. Additionally, a 12-month deposit certificate issue is scheduled for March – the first certificates with such a long maturity. The sum set to be borrowed is of 300 million RON (88.2 million euros). In total, the Finance Ministry is to raise 1.8 billion RON in March, a bigger sum than the 1.1 billion originally announced through the non-binding programme of government securities issues.