The government is set to raise NT$140 billion (US$4.68 billion) by selling Treasury bonds in the second quarter, mainly to finance government debt, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Friday.
The planned sale will be 49.1 percent lower than the NT$275 billion in bonds sold in the current quarter and 24.32 percent less than the NT$185 billion sold in the same period last year, ministry data showed.
The April-to-June quarter debt will include NT$130 billion in bonds tagged for debt repayment and NT$10 billion in bonds for special budgets and public works, the ministry said.
Of the NT$140 billion in bonds to be sold, NT$40 billion are five-year bonds, NT$35 billion are 10-year bonds, NT$30 billion are 20-year bonds and NT$35 billion 30-year bonds, the statement said.
The government sold a record NT$665 billion in Treasury bonds last year, compared with NT$620 billion sold in 2011, as it faced a NT$209.5 billion deficit following a deficit of NT$142.6 billion in 2011.
The deficit figure is expected to increase to NT$214.4 billion this year, according to a projection that the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics’ made in August last year.
The ministry did not provide a dollar figure for its total Treasury bond sales this year.
In the Friday statement, the ministry said it was also set to sell Treasury bills to help the state coffers meet short-term capital requirement needs. The ministry plans to sell NT$45 billion of Treasury bills in the second quarter, compared with NT$65 billion sold in the first quarter, the statement said.
The Treasury bills to be auctioned are NT$30 billion of 91-day bills and NT$15 billion of 28-day bills, the statement said.
The government sold NT$265 billion in Treasury bills last year, down from NT$291.2 billion in 2011, according to the ministry’s data.
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