Slovakia rejects all bids in 5-yr bond auction

...favourable budget trends. 
    Total demand in the auction was 2.253 billion crowns ($93.37 
million) in the twelfth sale of the bond maturing in 2012, below 
3.247 billion in the previous auction in May, according to the 
finance ministry's Debt and Liquidity Management Agency. 
    The debt agency did not comment on the auction, but traders 
said the outcome was no surprise. 
    "Average interest rates are still higher than in the spring. 
The ministry has no shortage of funds, and they also do not want 
to borrow at higher rates," said Tatra Banka dealer Elizej 
Macho. 
    The average yield demanded by investors was 4.642 percent on 
Monday, compared with 4.369 percent the agency accepted on May 
28. The paper was quoted at 4.657/4.507 at the secondary market 
on Monday. 
    The minimum demanded yield was 4.412 percent, while the 
maximum bid stood at 4.690 percent. 
    The debt agency said in June it had almost satisfied its 
borrowing needs for this year and would probably not issue many 
more domestic bonds in the coming months. 
    It also said it had taken advantage of favourable market 
conditions in the first months of the year to sell more domestic 
paper than it originally planned. 
    The state sold 1.157 billion crowns worth of the 2012-bond 
in the last successful auction in May, and a total of 21.6 
billion worth of the 5-year paper this year. 
    The central state budget showed a surplus of 3.86 billion 
crowns for January-July, confirming positive trends in public 
finances. 
  

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]