The government sold bonds worth 10.9 trillion rials ($40 million) at the weekly auction held by the Central Bank of Iran on Tuesday.
A bank was the sole buyer at the interbank market putting in bids worth 5.9 trillion rials, according to a press release posted on the CBI website.
The remaining bonds were bought by stock market investors during a weeklong period at yields ranging from 20.5% to 21.5% for two-year and three-year maturity bonds.
Auctions were launched last May in line with measures to help the government plug its deepening budget deficits. Bond sales this week dropped drastically to a third compared to the week earlier. The government had put up 237 trillion rials ($950m) in bonds.
With the fiscal year drawing to a close on March 20, the government is struggling to improve its access to the debt market. It has said it plans to sell bonds worth about 200 trillion rials ($800m) in the next ten days.
The central bank has so far held 41 auctions and generated 1,150 trillion rials ($4.6 billion). Banks and investment funds contributed to almost half of the bond buying. Stock market investors accounted for the other half.
The government has also sold treasury bills worth 517 trillion rials ($2.6b) since last March, according to data released by the Economy Ministry
Bonds have reportedly helped cover the budget deficit to a considerable degree and helped restrain government borrowing from the CBI that fueled inflation by increasing the monetary base.
