Two thousand citizens subscribed for about €80 million worth of treasury bills on the first day of the latest issue, with 1,200 citizens reinvesting their funds, Finance Minister Marko Primorac said on Saturday.

“Citizens’ response is quite good. Already yesterday, on the first day of subscription, 2,000  citizens subscribed for treasury bills. The total amount subscribed is about €80 million,” Primorac told a press conference on the occasion of the upgrade of Croatia’s credit rating by Moody’s agency.

As of Friday, citizens have been given a new opportunity to invest in government securities, for the seventh time in the past year and a half, and for the fifth time in treasury bills.

The target nominal amount of the issue is €1.2 billion, and the annual yield is 3.15%. Citizens will be able to subscribe until 11 am on 15 November, after which a second round of subscriptions will start, from 9 to 11 am on 19 November, for institutional investors. The date of the issue will be 21 November and the maturity date 20 November 2025.

Treasury bills are bought at a discount. The issue price of one treasury bill will be €969.54, and upon their maturity, citizens will receive €1,000 for each treasury bill, earning €30.46 per bill.

Possibility of reinvestment

The finance minister said that the aim of this issue is to enable reinvestment for citizens who bought treasury bills last November, which mature this month. Already yesterday, 1,200 citizens used this option, and in order to facilitate reinvestment, the e-Treasury platform has been upgraded, he added.

“About 1,200 citizens have decided to reinvest the amount they invested in treasury bills in November last year. In absolute terms, it is a little more than €40 million,” Primorac said.

“The aim of this borrowing is, first of all, to maintain the existing structure and base of investors, i.e. citizens. As for borrowing needs, we currently do not have such needs,” the minister said, adding that he expected the good response from citizens to continue in the coming days.

Several significant investments under evaluation

The press conference was also attended by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Minister of Economy Ante Susnjar, who emphasised the need to connect Croatian science and industry, especially when it comes to innovative projects aimed at decarbonisation and development of a sustainable economy.

Susnjar said that In order to support industry and jobs, the government was proposing changes to the Investment Promotion Act, including, among other things, an increase in subsidies for investment in capital costs from €500,000 to €1 million, or from €1 million to €2 million, depending on the level of development of the county where the investments are made.

Susnjar said that a State Aid for Research and Development Bill was also being prepared.

Among other things, he recalled the American company Jabil’s investment in Osijek, which was selected as an investment location among 17 countries, and said that “several significant investments from large investors” were currently being evaluated.

“Croatia has entered a very narrow circle of countries, which proves that the government’s policy is stable and that it is developing a stimulating environment for investment,” Susnjar said.