The interbank market opened the last week in January in a quiet atmosphere. Only overnights were traded, the price of which dropped slightly following these transactions. After two weeks an auction of government bonds enriched trading, in which the Finance Ministry's Debt and Liquidity Management Agency (ARDAL) managed to place part of the issue on the market. In the auction of bonds No. 202, maturing in 2014, the ARDAL accepted SKK 4.111 billion from total bids of SKK 6.48 billion at minimum yield of 4.27 percent, ceiling yield of 4.35 percent and average yield of 4.325 percent.
The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) accepted all bank bids in Tuesday's two-week repo tender representing SKK 109.913 billion at the single yield of 4.25 percent. The central bank thus almost rolled over the volume of SKK 110.784 billion maturing midweek. On Tuesday, SKK 4.111 billion from Monday's government bonds auction left to the NBS. The settlement of the central bank's regular repo tenders took place on Wednesday, when a maturing SKK 110.784 billion returned to and SKK 109.913 billion from the current repo tender left the sector.
On Thursday, banks easily met the January minimum reserve requirement. They had SKK 15.613 billion in their reserve accounts in the central bank, meeting the January minimum requirement on a cumulative basis at 100.06 percent. An additional SKK 3.755 billion ended up in the NBS one-day sterilization. The money market closed the week in daily and cumulative liquidity deficit. The banks deposited SKK 19.386 million in their reserve accounts on Friday, meeting the February minimum requirement on a cumulative basis at 74.13 percent. The February minimum requirement represents SKK 26.152 billion, which is the same amount as in January. Banks neither sterilized nor refinanced themselves in the NBS overnight transactions on Friday.
The usual NBS sterilization repo tender will be the main event on the market next week. According to the analysts, the central bank could accept SKK 170 to SKK 180 billion in the repo tender because the sector has liquidity deficit of about SKK 7 billion. On Wednesday, a maturing SKK 185.177 billion will return from the central bank.
(EUR 1 = SKK 33.391 on February 3)