The Finance Ministry intends to make a KZT 200m debut issue of 24-month T-bills on 24 March, 1999. According to the Deputy Finance Minister, Daniyar Abulgazin, the yield on these securities will be a fixed interest yield to be announced by the Finance Ministry, plus the inflation rate over a year period. "These securities are remarkable in that they will protect investors, primarily pension funds, from inflation," said Abylgazin. The new papers may be bought by non-residents as well. The first time they will repay will be in 182 calendar days, i.e. on 23 September 1999. Their maturity date is 23 March 2000. According to government expectations, inflation will total 8.7% at the year end. The average yield on currently issued T-bills is about 25%. (Reuters)

After receiving some bids, the Finance Ministry cancelled the 107^th auction of 6-month T-bills on 15 March. According to a Ministry spokesman, this was because the prices bid were not acceptable to the Ministry. (IRBIS)

The average yield on 3-month T-bills was steady at 24.0% at an auction held on 16 March. The auction was almost twice oversubscribed. The issuer managed to place KZT 1,283.8m (USD 14.76m) exceeding the target by KZT 583.8m.

The result of the week that ended on 19 March was as follows: raised—KZT 1,283.4m, planned—KZT 1,000m, and repaid KZT 1,010.7m. (IRBIS)