The average yield was 5.98% a year, little changed from 5.97% a year at the previous similar auction on July 5.
The ministry had planned to sell RON650 million Monday. Banks offered RON1.07 billion, but the ministry rejected all yields above 6.02% a year.
Romania sold debt at increasingly lower yields in the first four months of 2012, but the trend reversed as the central bank halted a monetary easing cycle, citing uncertainties on external markets and political developments at home. An escalated political crisis, which led to the president’s impeachment by parliament earlier this month, has put pressure on the Romanian national currency and raised borrowing costs.
The ministry sold RON1.5 billion in debt this months, down from RON2.25 billion initially estimated. In June, the ministry has raised RON1.4 billion on the local market.
So far in 2012, the country sold RON37.5 billion in leu-denominated state notes and $2.25 billion in US dollar-denominated bonds. (EUR1=RON4.5252)