The government is set to sell NT$185 billion (US$6.25 billion) in Treasury bonds in the second quarter, 17.78 percent lower than the NT$225 billion sold in the current quarter, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Friday.
The second-quarter bond sale will be 8.82 percent higher than the NT$170 billion sold in the same period last year, ministry data showed.
The ministry sold a record NT$620 billion in Treasury bonds last year as the government needs new funds to finance debt repayment and public infrastructure construction.
The ministry did not provide the dollar figures for its total bond sales this year.
The government faces a NT$209.5 billion deficit this year, as its annual budget for the year projects revenues of NT$1.7295 trillion and expenditures of NT$1.939 trillion. It saw a revised NT$142.6 billion deficit last year, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
The yield of the 10-year government bonds due in March 2022 settled 0.01 percentage points lower at 1.283 percent on Friday on the GRETAI Securities Market before the ministry unveiled its second-quarter bond sale plan.
The yield reached 1.3 percent on March 15, its highest since Jan. 6 for the benchmark 10-year debt that has a coupon rate of 1.25 percent, according to GRETAI data.
In the Friday statement, the ministry said the NT$185 billion Treasury bonds cover NT$155 billion in Type-A bonds tagged for debt repayment and special budgets, and NT$30 billion in Type-B bonds for public works.
Under the ministry’s definition, Type-A bonds pertain to development funds that are not self-redeeming (or where interest is not deductible), while Type-B debts are self-redeeming.
The ministry is set to auction NT$40 billion of five-year bonds on April 10, NT$40 billion of 20-year bonds on April 24, NT$35 billion of 30-year bonds on April 30, NT$30 billion of 10-year bonds on May 21 and NT$40 billion of 10-year bonds on June 22, according to the statement.
Apart from Treasury bonds, the ministry said it also plans to sell NT$80 billion in Treasury bills in the second quarter to help state coffers meet short-term capital needs and repay debt.
The ministry has not sold Treasury bills in the current quarter.
The Treasury bills to be auctioned are NT$30 billion of 91-day bills to be sold on April 19, NT$25 billion of 182-day bills to be sold on April 30 and NT$25 billion of 364-day bills to be auctioned on June 21, the ministry said.
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