Government to resume offering 30-year bonds

The government will resume the sale of 30-year bonds in the second quarter after a three-year lapse, meeting demand from life insurers and other investors.

The Department of National Treasury plans to auction NT$35 billion of the bonds on May 24 as part of the second quarter's NT$110 billion bond-sale program. The government last sold 30-year bonds in July 2001, according to Bloomberg data.

"There is demand for the 30-year bond from insurers," said Cheng Chi-cheng (鄭至臻), deputy chief of the treasury department. "It's more suitable since their premium payouts must match their returns. It's also part of the state debt refinancing."

The government is taking advantage of interest rates that are at near record lows to refinance its debt. The central bank kept its key rediscount rate at 1.375 percent at its quarterly policy meeting in December. The central bank has cut the rate 15 times since December 2000, most recently in June.

The government also plans to sell NT$40 billion of two-year bonds on April 12 and NT$35 billion of 10-year bonds on June 7.

The second-quarter bond sale amount is 27 percent lower than the NT$150 billion scheduled in the current quarter, according to a treasury department statement.

Last year, the government's regular bond sales totaled NT$465 billion, part of the state program to establish benchmarks that can be used as a basis for corporate and other borrowing costs. The government expects to sell about NT$30 billion to NT$50 billion of bonds in each month for the rest of this year, Cheng said.