
Treasury bonds have returned to decline in the last auction for this year, confirming the absence of upward pressure on them. In the auction of the last week of December, the 12-month bonds almost touched the limit of 3.25% of the basic interest rate of the Bank of Albania. The recent hike in the key rate in November, which also brought bond rates up slightly in the two subsequent auctions, suggested that we could have sustained increases in yields going forward, as well as some important players moving away from them. at the moment, waiting for higher returns.
Expectations that did not materialize in this week's auction, seeing that the demand to invest turned out to be quite high, unlike the last two auctions. The amount announced by the Government in the auction was 7 billion ALL, or nearly 70 million euros, while the total amount made available by investors was 10 billion ALL, or nearly 100 million euros. Such a high presence of investors appears to have re-broken the downward pressure on bond interest rates. From 3.41% in the November 24 auction, the 12-month bond yield was 3.36% in the December 26 auction.
It is about the first three auctions of 12-month bonds after the increase of the basic interest rate by the Bank of Albania to the level of 3.25%. The return of investors in the last auction also restores their typical behavior observed throughout the year 2023, characterized by quite high demand for investments, especially in instruments with a 12-month maturity. During the first half of this year, there was also a significant withdrawal of deposits by individuals to invest them in Government securities, due to the higher returns they provided in relation to deposits, seeing that the rates theirs reflected increases in base interest rates much more slowly.