Finance Ministry is trying to put up for sale long-term bonds in RON

The Ministry of Finance intends to launch bond issues with maturities of 10, 15 or even 20 years, aimed mainly at pension funds and insurance companies. The budget deficit, scheduled to account for 2% of the GDP, is expected to be 70% covered from the Romanian market and 30% from external sources, which are yet to be decided on. “The Ministry of Finance has committed to issue treasury certificates and government securities weekly to cover this year’s deficit. We want 70% of the deficit to be covered via issues conducted on the domestic market, and 30% via issues on the foreign market,” said Bodgan Dragoi, Secretary of State in the Finance Ministry in charge of the State Treasury. He added that the ministry was holding talks with international financial institutions such as the EBRD (The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), The World Bank and the EIB (European Investment Bank) in view of bond issues in RON on the Romanian market. The Government will borrow over one billion euros from foreign sources in 2009 to cover the 11.78 billion-RON budget deficit, while the remaining sum will be covered from domestic sources, according to a report made public by Mediafax news agency.