Slovakia on Monday (21 March) sold a total of €368.7 million in government bonds, with demand in this first auction since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine exceeding €746 million, the Slovak Ministry of Finance said on its website.
The government's Agency for Debt and Liquidity Management (ARDAL) offered investors four lines of bonds with maturities ranging from 2.2 years to 29.6 years. As compared to the previous auctions in which these bond issues were offered, the yields increased for all of them, ranging from 0.29% per annum to 0.97% per annum for the longest maturity bond. For this bond, the annual yield was 1.98%.
"The Slovak yield curve, since the last auction in February, has continued to rise significantly for all maturities. Yields across the euro area have risen by a further 20-60 basis points since February. The main reasons for this are significantly higher inflation (compared to initial expectations), the ending ECB support programmes and a new phenomenon – the war in Ukraine and the related uncertain/risky geopolitical developments," the MoF said. Prior to the auction, ARDAL had concerns about the auction's success. According to the ministry, the auction was "saved" by a significant increase in proceeds.
