Ukrainian Finance Ministry lowers UAH bond cut-off rate another 0.2 pp

MOSCOW. Feb 11 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Finance Ministry has for the fourth successive auction lowered rates for hryvnia-denominated domestic government bonds which had prior to that been unchanged since April 2025.

Ukrainian media reported, quoting the Finance Ministry's website, that the cutoff rate for 14-month military UAH bonds fell to 15.54% per annum, from 15.68% a week before, and the rate for 37-month bonds fell to 16.79% from 17.0%.

The weighted average rates fell to 15.5% from 15.68% for the 14-momth and to 16.72% from 16.99% for the 37-month bonds.

The Finance Ministry also offered potential benchmark government bonds maturing in October 2029, which banks can use to form up to 60% of their required reserves: the cutoff rate for them fell to 13.36%, from 13.5% two weeks ago, and the weighted average fell to 13.1% from 13.47%.

The National Bank on January 30 lowered its policy rate to 15% from the 15.5% at which it had been held since March 2025.

The Finance Ministry kept offerings of regular bonds at face value low at UAH 2 billion at each auction, while the potential benchmark offering was UAH 8 billion.

Demand for the 14-month bonds increased from UAH 19.44 billion a week ago to UAH 21.14 billion this week, while for 38-month bonds it fell to UAH 19.12 billion from UAH 20.28 billion. The Finance Ministry accepted, fully or partially, 57 of 72 bids for short-term bonds and 32 of 48 bids for longer bonds. These figures are better than at previous auctions because some of the buyers agreed to a lower rate.

Demand for the potential benchmark bonds rose to UAH 48.72 billion, from UAH 42.27 billion two weeks ago, when the offering was only UAH 3 billion. The MinFin accepted 25 of 39 bids.