The Ministry of Finance said it will issue ruble debt in September with a “limited” offer

The Russian Finance Ministry has announced a return to the public debt market by placing a limited amount of OFZs, Russian sovereign bonds, on sale in September, Deputy Finance Minister Timur Maksimov told Prime news agency on Thursday.

“We think that in the second half of September, after the government approves the drafts [of the Russian budget for 2023-2025] and submits them to the State Duma, we can enter the market with some volumes,” Maksimov said, replying to a question about the ministry’s plans for domestic loans.

According to the official, the first bond offer will be relatively small, from 10 to 30 billion rubles ($175-$500 million), so the sudden change does not “startle” the market.

“At first, there will be very limited volumes, just so that the reentry is smooth, so we don’t shock anyone with this program,” the deputy minister explained, noting that the final volumes will be decided upon after the ministry meets with investors to assess their appetite.

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According to Maksimov, the Finance Ministry initially had a very ambitious borrowing program for the current year, “80 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) were supposed to come out each week.” However, the situation changed when Russia started its military operation in Ukraine. The Ministry of Finance last traded OFZs at an auction on February 9.

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Source: RT