ZAGREB: Croatia sold 190 million kuna ($30.45 million) and 28 million euros ($33.10 million) worth of one-year treasury bills in two separate auctions on Tuesday, Finance Ministry data showed.
The sale of kuna bills fell well below a 400 million kuna target, while the sale of euro bills beat a targeted 20 million euros. The yield on kuna bills was flat at 0.09 percent, while the euro paper dropped one basis point to 0.00 percent.
"Despite no yield on euro papers their sale went better because it is better for the local banks to invest into the local treasury bills with no yield than to keep the surplus of euros deposited at foreign banks with a negative interest rate," a local market participant said.
More than 90 percent of Croatian lenders are owned by European Union banks, while the inflow of euros is rising amid a higher number of foreign tourists for the summer season.
The ministry occasionally also auctions bills with three-month and six-month maturities.
After the auction, Croatia's overall short-term debt in the local currency fell to 19.23 billion kuna from 19.44 billion.
The short-term debt in euros rose to 70.2 million euros from 62.2 million euros.
The next auction will be held on May 29, but will include only the bills denominated in kuna.
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