Debt Portfolio Management Quarterly Report - 1st Half of 2024
The Ministry of Finance presents, in accordance with the calendar of published information, a regular Debt Portfolio Management Quarterly Report, which also includes regular quarterly evaluations of primary dealers of the Czech government securities for the period from the third quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2024. In the overall evaluation, the following three banking groups were the most active during this period: PPF banka a.s., KBC Bank NV / Československá obchodní banka, a.s. and Société Générale / Komerční banka, a.s.
The absolute value of state debt reached CZK 3,207.1 billion at the end of the first half of 2024, which represents an increase of CZK 96.2 billion compared to the end of 2023. It is mainly due to the sale of government bonds with maturities of over one year and state treasury bills during the first half of 2024 to cover the state budget deficit, which reached CZK 178.6 billion at the end of June. Compared to the end of the first quarter of 2024, there was a quarter-on-quarter decrease in the absolute value of the state debt by CZK 13.8 billion.
During the first half of 2024, the regular issuance activity of the state was carried out in the standard mode when the CZK-denominated government bonds with maturities of over one year in a total nominal value of CZK 161.4 billion were issued. This covered the total annual amount of the CZK-denominated state debt redemptions, thanks to which sufficient space was created for smooth coverage of the remaining financing needs of this year, which will be mainly represented by the actual performance of the state budget in the second half of 2024.
In the second quarter of 2024, the regular redemption of the Government EUR-Bond of the Czech Republic, 2022–2024, 0.00% in a total nominal value of EUR 1.0 billion was also carried out and the coverage of this redemption was ensured primarily through operations on the euro money market in the form of the sale of EUR-denominated state treasury bills, both on the primary and secondary markets. During the first half of 2024, these state treasury bills in a total nominal value of EUR 1.9 billion were sold. In addition, for the first time in history, EUR-denominated state treasury bills were sold on the secondary market, when state treasury bills in a total nominal value of EUR 0.1 billion were sold. The total nominal value of EUR-denominated state treasury bills outstanding at the end of the first half of the year amounted to EUR 2.0 billion.