Federal bond market response to volatility does not yet require intervention, but measures theoretically possible - Belousov
MOSCOW. March 12 (Interfax) - The federal loan bond or OFZ market's response to the growing volatility of recent days does not yet require any special measures on the part of the authorities, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said.
The Finance Ministry has already reached one decision, to cancel an OFZ auction last week due to the volatility, and on March 9, when oil prices plunged, it announced a pause in borrowing until the markets stabilize.
"We're looking closely at how financial market players behave from the point of view of pulling out of OFZ or, on the contrary, buying OFZ. We are seeing a weak and I wouldn't say abnormal ongoing tendency for foreigners to pull out of OFZ, and our banks are picking these up. I wouldn't say there is anything taking place that would require some sort of intervention," Belousov told reporters.
When asked whether the government was thinking of buying up OFZ, he said this was "theoretically possible, but there's no need for it as of today."
"OFZ are not being offloaded today," he said.