The Catalan Government initially put €2.06 billion in one-year and two-year bonds on the market, but considering the high demand, it increased the offer up to €2.37 billion. 102,269 demands have been received.
The Catalan Government has been issuing retail bonds over the last two years as a regular way of financing its liquidity. All the previous issues have been a success, with high demand. Between April 2nd and April 24th Catalan citizens will be able to buy one year and two year treasury bonds of the Catalan Government’s debt, with an interest rate of 4.5% and 5% respectively.
Residents in Catalonia will be able to buy treasury bonds from the Catalan Government in April for the fourth time since 2010. The money will be used for interest repayments, in May, of a former bonds auction. The exact interest rate or the amounts to be raised are still unknown but the Catalan Government’s Deputy Finance Minister has said they hope to get “as much as possible”.
The 3.7 billion euros may be increased to 4 billion euros depending on demand. After the first day, the offer of bonds raised “high interest” according to financial sources. Citizens will be allowed to buy a minimum quantity of 1,000 euros and a maximum of 2 million euros. The Government is issuing bonds that expire in one year at an interest rate of 4.75%, and others expiring in two years at an interest rate of 5.25%. The Catalan Finance Minister stated that this bond offer is “safe and attractive”. It is the third emission of retail bonds in the Catalan Government’s history. The current bond emission mainly aims to replace those from the first emission, which expire next November 21st.
As carried out on two other occasions in the last year, the Catalan Government is preparing to release of 3,800 retail bonds to get cash. Financial sources informed ACN about the operation, which has not been confirmed by the Catalan Ministry of Economy. The bonds would be offered before November 21st, the day that the bonds issued by the former Catalan Government in autumn 2010 expire.
In order to attain liquidity and taking into account the difficulties getting money from the international markets, the Catalan Government is selling 2.7 billion euros worth of treasury bonds. These will be bought by citizens at bank branches. One-year bonds have a 4.25% interest rate while for two-year bonds it is 4.75%. At the end of the first day of sales, 29% of the bonds were sold. The measure was already taken last October by the previous Government and the totality of the bonds were sold quickly.
Various banks and savings banks are asking the Catalan Government to extend the total bond amount to 3,000 million euros. The Catalan Ministry of Economy will make the decision whether or not to extend the amount on Friday. The Catalan Government's debt bonds were issued for an initial amount of 1,890 million euros and further extended to 2,500 million euros due to their massive purchase by Catalan citizens
As a result of the Catalan Government’s success in bond sales, they have made the decision to increase the overall bond amount to 2,500 million euros. The bonds can be purchased until the 12th of November by private citizens.
Today banks and savings banks started selling the treasury bonds announced by the Catalan Government two weeks ago to get cash. On the first day, about 1,000 million euros have been bought. If this pace continues, the bonds will be sold out by next week. The quantity on sale is 1,890 million, which could be increased to 2,500.