Banks offered RON1.48 billion, but the ministry rejected all yields above 5.51% a year.
At the previous similar auction February 21, the ministry sold RON800 million in five-year paper at an average annual yield of 5.65%.
The ministry plans to sell state treasuries worth RON2.5 billion in April, down from RON3 billion in the previous month.
Also in April, the institution will reopen its February 2016 Eurobond in a bid to raise EUR200 million.
So far in 2013, Romania sold RON18.82 billion in leu-denominated notes and EUR502.5 million at a three-year euro-denominated auction on the local market. Additionally, the ministry tapped international markets for $1.5 billion at a US dollar-bond auction in February. (EUR1=RON4.4281)