RO Govt. raises RON 1.4 bln with third round of Fidelis bonds for households

The Romanian Government sold bonds worth some RON 1.4 billion (EUR 0.28 bln) in the third round of issues under Fidelis schema aimed at providing wealthy individual investors in Romania with the option to place their money directly in instruments listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

The Finance Ministry carried out two other rounds of financing through the Bucharest Stock Exchange last year.

In the three rounds, the local investors placed RON 6.1 bln (EUR 1.3 bln) in Government bonds, denominated in local and foreign currency.

Under the latest round, they purchased RON 710 mln of bonds denominated in local currency and EUR 140 mln of bonds denominated in euro. The new bonds started trading on the BVB on March 25.

"At a time when we see that the population's deposits keep increasing while the interest rates on deposits are low, investing in Government securities is a good alternative for Romanians who want a better return for their money but have not yet considered the option of shares. On the other hand, we see that inflationary expectations indicate a continuation of the period of modest interest rates, which means that more and more Romanians will have to look for more profitable investments for their money," commented Radu Hanga, Chairman of BVB's Board of Directors.

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