CYPRUS: PDMO sells €31m in retail bonds, €182m so far
The Cyprus Ministry of Finance sold 6-year government bonds worth €31 mln in its monthly offer this week, the second highest in the programme that started last year, suggesting that investors were unaffected by the government’s move to lower interest rates on the retail bonds for individual investors later this year.
The Public Debt Management Office said that for the July bonds, the seventh series this year, the Republic received 123 offers for the total of €31,103,800, of which €22.5 mln were from just eight foreign investors. The size of bids ranged from €1,000 to €5 mln. This brings the total raised through this programme to €182 mln, well within target to reach the government’s initial plan to raise €120 mln a year
This was conceived as an alternative source of mid-term funds having been shut out of markets since 2011 when the island’s banks invested in toxic Greek government bonds that led to their downfall and a €10 bln bailout programme from the Troika of international investors.
The PDMO said that it is not limited to receiving bids for only €10 mln a month and that it can accept to sell all the retail bonds, if it so wishes. The biggest amount of retail bonds sold was in December 2014 when it sold €37 mln, up from €27 mln in November, with most of the interest continuing to come from foreign investors. The eighth series for August will accept bids for €10 mln from July 1 to 20.
In its first quarter 2015 report, the PDMO had said that the issues of 6-year bonds continued unhindered and raised €57 mln in the first three issues of the year. The interest rate for the 2015 series has been adjusted downwards by 0.25 percentage points and ranges from 2.50% for the first year to 5.50% in the final year. These are subject to 3% tax on interest.
In May, the PDMO said it was lowering the interest rate on future bonds starting from the September series, to be offered on August 3-20. Thus, the rate will be lowered to 2.5% for the first 24 months, 2.75% for 24-48 months, 3.00% for 48-60 months and 3.25% for 60-70 months. This will generate an average 6-year yield of 2.79%, down from the 4% average at the launch of the programme. As a consolation prize, the PDMO said that the present rates will be maintained through the current and previous bond issues, until they expire.At the beginning of the year, the PDMO lowered rates by 0.5% starting from an initial 2.5% for up to 24 months and gradually increasing to 5.5% for a 60-72 months holding, for an average annual yield of 3.875%.
The annual coupon rate when the series was first launched in May 2014 started from 2.75% and averaged at an attractive 4% over a six-year period, with a minimal 3% income tax on the interest, far better than the 30% imposed on all interest-yielding products.
Source: Financial Mirror – CYPRUS: PDMO sells €31m in retail bonds, €182m so far
