Page 96 - RusRPTJun19

8.5.1 Fixed income - bond news
Russia's Finance Ministry continues to place large amounts of OFZ federal treasury bonds amid high demand, on the weekly auction of May 15 selling RUB135bn ($2.1bn) worth of bonds in three placements against a demand of RUB239bn. As reported by bne IntelliNews, since the beginning of 2019 appetite for OFZs returned, with the ministry holding a number of record- high sales on weekly OFZ auctions. The share of foreign investors in the OFZ market also increased. Overall since April the Finance Ministry raised RUB640bn, already beating the second-quarter target of RUB600bn OFZ sales. In the first quarter RUB514bn of OFZ were sold, exceeding the plan by RUB64bn. Analysts surveyed by Vedomosti daily linked continuously high demand for Russian OFZ bonds to anticipation of the CBR rate cuts this year and investors seeking to lock-in higher yields. OFZs remain a solid instrument amid Russia's strong fiscal position and yields beating inflation.
96 RUSSIA Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com