Government stock issues 'not to exceed' €500m

The Treasury said today that the issuance target of Malta Government Stock (MGS) for this year has been set not to exceed €500 million.

That will include issues to redeem MGS issues totalling €208,178,680 which are due to mature in March, July and September.

The remaining borrowing will be made to finance the government borrowing requirement and to effect changes in the government's debt portfolio.

Five or six issues will be made, between February and November, with each issue planned to be made approximately on a two monthly basis.

“Acknowledging that the current exceptional conditions prevailing in the financial markets may persist during the rest of 2009, the Treasury will be adopting a degree of discretionary measure in the amount that will be allocated for each issue. This is designed to allow the Treasury to react to significant changes in market conditions.”

The Treasury said the maturity structure of the 2009 issues will be a mix of short/medium (4 – 10 years) and long (11+ years) term.

Details of the terms and conditions of each issue will be published in the Government Gazette prior to the actual date of each issue.

With regard to Treasury Bills, the Treasury said auctions will continue to be held on a weekly basis, normally on Tuesdays.

The maturity structure of issues will include a mix of 28-day, 91-day, 182 day, 273-day and 364-day Treasury bills. The focus will be on the 91-day tenor, which constitutes the money market benchmark.