Australian government to borrow A$55b in year to 2020

[SYDNEY] The Australian government on Tuesday said it planned to sell around A$55 billion (S$50.55 billion) of new bonds in the year to June 2020, of which A$27.2 billion had already been issued.

That was down slightly from the A$58 billion previously planned, and followed the government's mid-year fiscal and economic outlook released on Monday.

The Australian Office of Financial Management said it planned to establish a new bond line maturing in May 2032 before June 30, 2020.

The issuance programme would continue to be conducted via regular tenders, with occasional larger tenders of newly established bond lines, the AOFM said.

Syndicated taps of existing long-dated bond lines would be considered in the context of prevailing market conditions.

The agency said buybacks of around A$15 billion of short-dated bonds maturing after 30 June 2020 were expected for the year, with A$6.6 billion already conducted.

Treasury Indexed Bond (TIB) issuance of A$2.0 billion to A$2.5 billion was planned for 2019/20, with A$1.0 billion already sold.

REUTERS