Bulgarian Govt Raises BGN 160 M from State Bonds

Bulgaria's government has raised a total of BGN 162 M from its latest sale of state bonds.

The government initially planned to sell 10.5-year bonds for a total of BGN 25 M but the demand turned out to be 6.5 times higher and led it to expand the bond issue.

Because of that and since the average return on the bonds turned out to be record low 5.81%, the Finance Ministry decided to sell more state bonds.

The Finance Ministry said in a statement that the new bond issue is of great importance because it served as grounds for determining the long-term interest rate, which is one of the criteria for euro zone accession.

The major buyers of the latest issue of Bulgarian bonds are retirement funds, insurance companies, and trust funds.