On behalf of the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank sold these state securities in the total amount of EUR 24 million at the second auction of Treasury bills this year, while the total amount of submitted bids was EUR 27 million. The deadline for the records submission is 182 days, which is August 20th. At the first auction this year, all state bills worth 18 million euros were sold.
According to the Ministry of Finance, total state debt on the basis of government bonds is 214.13 million euros.
The Ministry of Finance with the issuance of government bills as short-term securities maintains the current liquidity of the budget, and official data shows that commercial banks are interested in investing in these state-owned securities and that their bids are higher than what the state asks for. According to data for the last year, six banks with the deadline of 182 days submitted bids in the amount of 270 million euros, while the total amount of accepted bids was 213.6 million euros.
The country plans to provide 190 million euros this year for the needs of financing the budget through the issuance of domestic Eurobonds. The projection is that the budget will lack €556 million this year. This amount will be provided by loans and credits from domestic and foreign sources in the amount of 370 million euros, as well as from deposits in the amount of 180 million euros. The Ministry of Finance explained that in the Economic Reform Program from this year until 2021 the country's internal debt grew during 2018 due to the issuance of government bills, in order to maintain current liquidity.
"Nevertheless, at the end of the third quarter of 2018, there was a decrease in the domestic debt in relation to the end of 2017, due to the repayment of government bonds to the level at the end of 2017, commercial loans taken with domestic banks, and the repayment of old foreign currency savings," said the ministry.
Text by Marija Mirjacic, on February 19th 2019, read more at Vijesti
