Hungary govt debt manager plans limited-size net forint issuance in Q4

Hungary's Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) plans net forint issuance of a limited HUF 76bn in October-December, with net issues in bonds and twelve-month discount T-bills and net repayments in 3-month bills, ÁKK's latest three-month forint issue plan shows.

The national economy ministry's latest forecast implies a HUF 104bn forint financing needs for the last quarter, thus ÁKK will likely also draw on the state treasury unified account KESZ during the period.

The debt manager planned net repayments of HUF 175bn for September-November, most of it in discount T-bills.

Gross issues will come to HUF 1,042bn and gross repayments to HUF 1,118bn in the last quarter of the year.

Bond issues, including the HUF 30bn of bonds to be issued at the four exchange auctions planned during the period, will total HUF 390bn.

There will be just one big bond expiry, of HUF 282bn of 2011/B bonds on October 12, and two minor expiries, worth a combined HUF 2.2bn, on December 30. Including HUF 40bn in early buybacks at four reverse auctions and HUF 30bn changed at the exchange auctions, gross expiries will total HUF 354bn in October-December.

Besides seven biweekly bond auctions, ÁKK will also offer floating-rate bonds parallel with 12-month discount T-bill auctions on October 27 and December 8. The next floating-rate bond auction will take place on September 29.

The longest, 15-year fixed-rate bond is scheduled to be auctioned twice, on October 20 and on December 15.

ÁKK plans to cut the per auction offer of three-month discount T-bills to HUF 30bn, the combined HUF 390bn offer for the 13 auctions in the period suggests. The auction offer was cut from HUF 50bn to HUF 30bn yet for the next, September 27 auction, at which the first three-month bill expiring next year will be on offer.

Three-month discount T-bills issues will be HUF 192bn below the HUF 583bn of expiries during the period.

ÁKK will cut the per auction offer at the biweekly twelve-month discount T-bill auctions to HUF 40bn from HUF 50bn offered so far this year as it plans to sell a combined HUF 240bn of the bills at the six auctions in the period. The new reduced offer applies already to the last auction of the bills in September, on the 29th. There will be just one big twelve-month discount T-bill expiry, of HUF 160bn on November 16.

The tentative target for twelve-month interest-bearing T-bill sales is HUF 21.7bn during the period. As usual, the sales target of these bills, designed for retail investors, matches the expiring volume.

In its latest budget report the national economy ministry projected a HUF 424.5bn central government surplus for the last quarter. The projected surplus is HUF 104bn less than the HUF 528.8bn in central government revenue from the transfer of private pension fund assets earmarked in the 2011 budget act. The whole amount budgeted is now due to arrive in the last quarter.

The government expects to meet the 2011 fiscal target in spite of a HUF 100bn "hole" in the budget resulting from slower than expected growth by collecting more tax and freezing public procurements.