On the occasion of the second revised Budget Act for 2020, which was promulgated on 25 April, the Minister for the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, decided on the details of the revised financing programme for 2020, comprising (i) medium-and long-term issuances net of buybacks of €245bn for 2020 and (ii) an increase in outstanding short-term debt (BTFs) of €64.1bn over the year.
Agence France Trésor has announced on that occasion that it would examine with its primary dealers the best way to implement this updated financing programme for 2020 (see press release).
Based on these consultations, the two adjustments are made to the indicative State financing programme for 2020 which was presented on 11 December 2019.
a. Creation of new OATs
AFT will examine, together with the primary dealers, the prospect of a syndicated issue of a new 20-year bond based on market demand.
As announced last December, between now and the year-end, AFT will furthermore carry out the following operations:
- Nominal bonds: issue a new 10-year benchmark
- Inflation-linked bonds: issue a new 10- to 15-year OAT indexed to the French consumer price index (OATi), and auction a new 5-year OAT indexed to the euro-area consumer price index (OAT€i)
b. Auction schedule
- The two auctions in August and December, which were referred to in last December’s press release, will take place and there will be a second auction in August. Specifically:
- In August 2020, an auction of nominal OATs with maturities of 8 years or more will be held on the first Thursday of August and an auction of nominal OATs maturing in 2 to 8 years on the third Thursday of August. The issuance volumes at these auctions will take account of market conditions in August. An auction of inflation-linked bonds may be held depending on market conditions and recommendations from the primary dealers.
- In December 2020, an auction of nominal OATs and/or an auction of inflation-linked OATs will take place on the first Thursday of the month.
On 15 May, the gross nominal value of medium- and long-term debt issuance since the start of the year stood at €111.7bn with €3.0bn of buybacks, giving net issuance of €108.7bn. Outstanding short-term debt (BTFs) represented €140.7bn, up €33.8bn compared to the end of 2019.
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