14 May 2004 05:43
Slide in govt. debt prices accelerates
MOSCOW. May 14 (Interfax) - The slide in government debt prices accelerated Friday although the same factors, namely
a drop in Russian Eurobond quotations and the dollar's strengthening against the ruble, were at play.
Long-and medium-term amortization issues shed 50-100 basis points, although OFZ-AD 46001, which matures in September
2008, fell the most, by 157 basis points to 109.4% of face-value with yield rising to 7.67%. Trading volume was also
heaviest for these papers, with 143 deals for 264 million rubles struck.
Vladimir Malinovsky of Veb-Invest said the market wanted to see
whether there would be a continuation of the policy pursued under
The market will also be watching out for what returns on
transactions by the Russian Pension Fund are like, as most pension
Short issues also fell: OFZ-FD 27014, maturing December 2004, shed 61 basis points, and OFZ-FD 27017, maturing August
2004, was down 26 basis points. Yield on these issues grew to 6.05% and 6.02% respectively.
The major news of interest to the ruble-denominated debt market was the announcement that Bella Zlatkis, the deputy
finance minister in charge of internal government debt, was leaving the Finance Ministry after more than 30 years.
Zlatkis had been one of the most important figures connected with this market since the early 1990s.
Zlatkis. He said that at the start of this year Zlatkis forecast yield on long OFZ would range from 7.5% to 8.5% and
internal government debt has stayed in this band while Eurobonds quotations have dropped considerably. "It is
important to wait for new statements by Finance Ministry officials, what the policy will be on this market, whether it
will change or stay as it is," Malinovsky said.
There were no transactions in GKO.
Quotations are expected to continue to trend down on Monday, but
resources are invested in government paper. "Given that Pension Fund earnings should at least cover inflation,
the Finance Ministry is unlikely to allow much movement in OFZ prices," Malinovsky said.
Overall trading volume for OFZ-GKO was 652.259 million rubles, which was three times higher than on Thursday.
Average-weighted yield on OFZ-AD and OFZ-FD grew 2.79% to 7% annually.
trading on the first day of the week should be thin. Malinovsky forecast yield on long-term issues would range
between 8.15% and 8.30%. [RU ASIA EUROPE EEU EMRG INSI GVD] pr
[Interfax] |
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