Russia announces plan for bond market
The Russian Finance Ministry has announced a return to the public debt market by issuing a limited amount of OFZs, ruble-denominated sovereign bonds, in September, Deputy Finance Minister Timur Maksimov told Prime news agency on Thursday.
“We think that in the second half of September, after the government approves the drafts [of the Russian budget for 2023-2025] and submits them to the State Duma, we can enter the market with some volumes,” Maksimov said, replying to a question about the ministry’s plans for domestic debt issuance.
According to the official, the first bond offer will be relatively small, from 10 to 30 billion rubles ($175-$500 million), so the sudden change does not “startle” the market.
“At first, there will be very limited volumes, just so that the reentry is smooth, so we don’t shock anyone with this program,” the deputy minister explained, noting that the final volumes will be decided upon after the ministry meets with investors to assess their appetite.
According to Maksimov, the Finance Ministry initially had a very ambitious borrowing program for the current year, “80 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) were supposed to be issued each week.” However, the situation changed when Russia started its military operation in Ukraine. The Ministry of Finance last placed OFZs at an auction on February 9.
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