Romania’s Govt. launches new bond offer on the Bucharest Stock Exchange

Romania's Government will carry out a new Treasury bill offer on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) between March 1 and March 19.

The offer is part of the Fidelis program, under which the Government managed to raise RON 4.74 bln (nearly EUR 1 bln) to the public budget in 2020.

The new offer of government bonds under the Fidelis program includes bonds denominated in RON with 1-year and 3-yrs maturity and euros with 5-yrs maturity.

The annual coupons attached to the local currency bonds are 2.85% (1-yr bond) and 3.1% (3-yrs bond), while the 5-yrs bonds denominated in euros will pay a 1.55% yearly coupon.

The bonds will then be listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and will start trading on March 25, 2021.

"We are talking about a very low-risk placement which, once listed, offers investors flexibility in managing their money, allowing them to sell whenever they want, or buy more. This flexibility is already visible in the trading volumes of the Fidelis government securities issued last year, with investors trading them daily," said Adrian Tanase, Bucharest Stock Exchange CEO.

The offer targets exclusively individual investors (including non-residents), and the minimum subscription value is RON 5,000 for the RON issues or EUR 1,000 for the EUR issue.

A syndicate made of BT Capital Partners (Lead Manager), Banca Transilvania, BCR, and BRD manages the bond offer, but the investors can participate through any brokerage firm or bank that is authorized to operate on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

According to the Romanian legislation in force, the interests and capital gains from holding and trading government bonds issued by the Finance Ministry are non-taxable income.

The Finance Ministry has also launched a new bond offer for the general population under the Tezaur program. The bonds issued under this program can be bought through the Treasury's offices or the Romanian Post and are not tradable.

(Photo: Diana Oros/ Inquam Photos)