In an auction at the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, the ministry sold six-month bills at an average yield of 180. 94 percent. The volume of bills sold was 10. 993 billion rubles in terms of their maturity value, roughly in line with a Finance Ministry announcement earlier this month that it would sell 12 billion rubles worth of the bills.
Alexander Sarchev, an analyst for the exchange, said that the results of the auction for six-month bills had pleased the Finance Ministry which had expected to pay a much higher yield to borrow for a longer term.
He said that the total demand for the six-month bills at the auction, including bids placed but not successful, came to 40 billion rubles, showing the market could still expand.
At an auction Tuesday for the eighth issue of the standard three-month treasury bills, the ministry sold its target of 120 billion rubles of bills at a yield of 169. 6 percent, down from 171. 55 percent a month ago.
Sarchev said that the low interest rate on six-month bills and the fall in the rate on three-month bills showed that the market expected macroeconomic financial stabilization and a fall in interest rates.
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