CYPRUS: PDMO says demand for 6-year retail bonds shoot up

Demand for 6-year Cyprus government retail bonds shot up to €27.4 mln this month, with most of the interest coming from foreign investors, boosting the total so far to €61.5 mln, half of the amount the state planned to raise from investors.

The Cyprus Public Debt Management Office at the Ministry of Finance announced it approved 62 applications amounting to €27,407,900 for the purchase of the seventh series (December) of six-year government bonds for individuals. Of these, 52 were Cypriots applicants for €2.4 mln, while ten foreign investors subscribed to €25 mln or 91% of the total.
This is up from €7.14 mln subscribed for the November series.
Applications for the December series was the highest value with the monthly ceiling set at €10 mln in order to raise €120 mln a year. The annual coupon rate starts from 2.75% and averages at an attractive 4% over a six-year period, with a minimal 3% income tax on the interest, far better than the 30% imposed on all interest-yielding products.
The PDMO said that of the total issued so far to 450 investors, €37.54 mln or 61% was subscribed by foreign investors.
Next, is the January 2015 series, the eighth so far, with applications open from December 1 to 19 and issued on January 2, 2015.