REPORT TO THE PARLIAMENT ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT BOND SINKING FUND

Transcription

1 REPORT TO THE PARLIAMENT ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT BOND SINKING FUND (IN COMPLIANCE WITH ART. 2, SUB-SECTION 3, OF LAW NO. 432 OF 27 OCTOBER 1993) During 2003 the Ministry of Economy and Finance, adopting innovative sales techniques, put in place a significant dismissals plan that, among others, made possible the re-activation of the Government Bond Sinking Fund. I. Income and transfers to the Fund Amounts enter the fund as income by way of budget items number 4055 (patrimonial dismissals) and number 3330 (deposits for donations and possible allocations by the Ministry of Economy and Finance). In particular, in 2003 income was derived from the following patrimonial dismissals: sale of the residual stake held in Mediocredito Friuli Venezia Giulia (about 59 million euros) transferred to the Fund in November; block dismissal of an ENEL share (about 2.17 billion euros) transferred in November; dismissal of stock in ENEL, ENI and Poste Italiane to the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti previously converted into a shareholder company (S.p.A.) (about 11 billion euros); sale of Ente Tabacchi Italiani (about 2.3 billion euros); dismissal of 30% of the capital of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. in favor of 65 interested Banking Foundations (about 1.05 billion euros). Other incoming s derive principally from the allocation to the Fund of the partial distribution to the Consolidated Shareholder, by the Fintecna S.p.A., of the available reserve related to merger profits resulting from the incorporation of IRI S.p.A. (about 1.45 billion euros) transferred in October to the account established in the name of the Fund. Budget residuals from previous transactions also came into the Fund, (about 84 million euros) transferred in December, derived from the dismissal of stocks held by the Ministry in INA S.p.A. converted to stocks in GENERALI S.p.A. following the merger for incorporation (about 77 million 1

2 euros) and in Mediocredito Fondiario Centroitalia (about 6 million euros). The difference (about 1 million euros) is derived from real estate sales allocated to the Fund. Like every year, January 1st and July 1st, interest accrued during the previous semester were credited directly to the Fund account. These credits were in the of 4,444, euros in January and 9,864, euros in July. All the income related to Fund budget items, number 4055 and number 3330, are shown in detail in the general statements attached (Table A1 Summary through 12/31/2001 s in lire) and (Table A2 Year 2002 and 2003 Management s in euros). The s that move through the budget are transferred to account number 522, at the Bank of Italy and in the name of the Fund, by way of decrees of variation between income and expenditures, registered by the State Court of Accounts, and by subsequent payment mandates through expense item number 9565, within the competence of the center responsible Treasury (base provisional unit Government Bond Sinking Fund) of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. For the complete outline of activity in the account held in the name of the Fund, see the tables of inflows and activity, which show for each date the s transferred and the uses thereof, including the interest deposited every year (Table B1 Summary through 12/31/2001 s in lire), (Table B2 Year 2002 and 2003 Management s in euros) and (Table C Summary of total activities by annuity through 12/31/2001 s in lire). II. Utilization II a. Market acquisitions The buybacks, arranged by mandate through a Specialist in Government bonds, were conducted in the month of December. These transactions were conducted on two three-year BTPs with maturity in February and March of 2004 with the intention to ease the profile of maturities for that period. Both bonds, BTP /2004 and BTP /2004 were purchased for a nominal value of 1 billion euros. The s, by type and value, are outlined below: Security type Date Coupon ISIN Code Nominal 2

3 Issue/Maturity purchased (s in euros) BTP /2004 5% IT ,000,000,000 BTP / % IT ,000,000,000 Amounts expressed in uros The transactions took place according to the procedure outlined below. For each bond handled, on the day established for the repurchase, December 10, the intermediary indicated to the Treasury s and prices, and the Treasury verified the compliance of the negotiation terms with real market terms, and also with the spread constraints versus the Euribor indicated in the mandate given to the specialist. When the proposals were deemed congruous, the Treasury decided as to quantitatives and prices for each bond. At market closure, the operator sent to the Treasury a summary of the transactions concluded. BTP /2004 5% IT Settlement Nominal Negotiation price Capital Accrued interest Total 1,000,000, ,487 1,004,870,000 16,576,100 1,021,446,100 Values expressed in uros BTP / % IT Settlement Nominal Negotiation price Capital Accrued interest Total 1,000,000, ,608 1,006,080,000 11,250,000 1,017,330,000 Values expressed in uros The s were settled according to market practice (T+3) on December 15. The use of the Fund was equal to 2,038,776, euros, which also includes the accrued interest paid on the bonds themselves. 3

4 II.b. Payments upon maturity The available s deposited in the account held in the name of the Fund can be used not only for bond buyback transactions on the market, but also for the redemption of bonds at maturity. In such cases, in fact, it can be more convenient to resort to this procedure, which allows for the easing of pressure on market rates through lesser issues on the primary market, especially in the case of refunding of relevant s of maturing bonds. Such an option becomes even more advantageous if bond prices on the secondary market are expensive. Bonds were reimbursed upon maturity for a nominal value of 2.33 billion euros by way of the following transactions: a) partial redemption of the BTP 15 October 2000/15 October 2003 for a nominal value of 2.05 billion euros; b) partial redemption of the BTP 22 December 1993/22 December 2003 for a nominal value of 280 million euros. The residual activity of early repayment was also carried out, at the market prices of 26 November 1998, as set out in the D.M. of September 21, 1998, solely for those bonds affected by the suspension of the provision, begun after five years in accordance with the decree mentioned. The reimbursements during 2003 in accordance with the above provision were equal to about 11,000 euros in nominal value, corresponding to about 13,000 euros of utilization of the Fund. The combined reimbursement and buyback transactions conducted with the Fund contributed to a reduction of the debt-to-gdp ratio of 2003 on the measure of 0.3%. II.c. Utilization for payment of STET stocks On May 16, 2003 the s available in the Fund were used for the payment of residual STET (Telecom) stocks, purchased by the Treasury on December 20, 1996, through the dismissal to the Fintecna (successor of IRI with full rights) of the stock quota held by IRI S.p.A., in preparation for the subsequent dismissal of the repurchased stocks. Fintecna was paid the net proceeds derived from the dismissal of residual Telecom stocks (1,430,770,811.00) and the interest on the deferred payment, calculated on the basis of yield rates of the Fund in the corresponding periods 4

5 (2,554, euros from December 12, 2002 to December 31, 2002 and 16,349, euros from January 1, 2003 to May 16, 2003) in accordance with the ministerial decree of December 16, 1996, confirmed by the subsequent decree of March 4, In December 2003 the dismissal to the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, converted to a shareholder company (S.p.A.), of 10.35% of ENEL capital, 10% of ENI capital, and 35% of the capital of Poste Italiane took place, as did the partial privatization of the same Cassa S.p.A. through the offer of stock to interested Banking Foundations, which resulted in the allocation of 30% in favor of 65 Foundations. The value of the dismissals to the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (10,991,039, euros) deposited on December 12, 2003 and that of the dismissal of 30% of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to the Foundations (1,050,000,000.00) deposited on December 30, 2003 were entered in the budget as income, to be subsequently transferred to the Fund. The conspicuous liquidity available in the account Available funds of the Treasury for treasury-related activities, before the transfer to the Fund took place, helped to reduce the annual debt by canceling the auctions of Government bonds with settlement in December Attachments: summary tables of budget receipts of the Fund; summary tables of Fund flows and utilization; summary table of activity broken down by year through 12/31/2001; table of the Fund financial statement; summary table of Fund debt-reduction transactions; charts illustrating the impact of buybacks on the maturities for 2004 and the utilization for Rome, 26 May 2004 THE MINISTER (Tremonti) 5