The Finance Ministry announced yesterday that MVR 2.1 billion has been raised from the sale of T-bills as part of efforts to secure funds for the budget.
The T-bills were sold under an announcement made by the ministry on Monday last week. In the announcement, the government opened MVR 2.2 billion worth of T-bills for sale. But the amount sold was MVR 146 million short of the funds needed.
T-bills with maturities of three months and six months could not be sold as much as needed. The government sought MVR 316 million with three-month repayment periods but raised MVR 224 million, and sought MVR 149 million with six-month repayment periods but raised MVR 62 million.
Despite the shortfall, T-bills with one-month and one-year maturities were oversubscribed and the government raised in excess of the amount targeted. The government sought MVR 974 million with a one-month repayment period but raised MVR 997 million, and sought MVR 842 million with a one-year repayment period but raised MVR 852 million.
According to the borrowing plan published by the Finance Ministry, MVR 3.95 billion is to be raised by the sale of treasury bills and bonds in the domestic market. As the budget deficit is estimated to be MVR 16.3 billion, the remaining MVR 12.3 is to be raised from foreign markets.
Of the funds to be secured internationally, the government made an announcement earlier this month to raise MVR 8.5 billion.
