At the previous auction, held last week, the sale fell short of target as the market was gearing up for longer-term bonds issued a few days after the auction.

The Croatian finance ministry sometimes also offers three-month and six-month bills, as well as euro denominated papers. Last week it also refinanced 15-month euro bills worth 1.0 billion euros.

The benchmark overnight rate on the local money market was quoted at 0.33 percent on Thursday and the one-year rate at 0.52 percent. Daily market rates change at 1000 GMT.