“In total, 45.2 trillion rials ($200 million) worth of government debt bonds were purchased in the current week by banks, financial entities, and other investors,” said a CBI statement, Press TV reported.

CBI announcements on weekly bond auctions usually update data on sell-offs and the number of bonds on offer for the next round of auction.

The auctions is part of government efforts to shore up finances through various financial and banking schemes as it feels the impacts of lower economic activity in the country as a result of the spread of coronavirus.

The Tuesday statement said that private and government-run banks were responsible for nearly 25 percent of purchases over the past week.

Bonds sold since last Tuesday had yield rates of up to 21.5 percent, said the CBI, adding that the Ministry of Finance had contributed to 25.5 trillion rials (nearly $116 million) worth of revenues gained from the debts.

It said the bonds had been offered either through an interbank system that is run by the CBI or in the Tehran Stock Exchange where trade has rebounded after a brief plunge seen in recent days.

The country’s economy has been hit by a slump in global oil prices and the spread of the coronavirus, with the minister saying the latter was having the bigger effect as it complicated transportation, tourism, and trade, Reuters reported.

Russia previously expected a 2020 budget surplus of 0.8% of GDP, but budget revenues from oil and gas at current prices are set to decline by about 2 trillion roubles ($27.7 billion) compared with previous estimates, Siluanov said.

“With the current prices for energy resources, we will have a deficit of up to 1% of GDP. We estimate that it will be at 0.9% of GDP,” the minister said, adding that all budget obligations would be met.

Russia has a rainy-day National Wealth Fund (NWF) made up of oil revenues accumulated in previous years. It is part of Russia’s sovereign reserves and held 8.2 trillion roubles ($113.5 billion), or 7.3% of the country’s GDP, as of March 1.

The country will spend 600 billion roubles from this fund in 2020, including on a previously disclosed state plan to purchase a 50% + 1 share in Sberbank, the country’s largest lender, from the central bank.

Siluanov added that the finance ministry expects oil companies to add 500 billion roubles to the fund this year.

Oil prices have halved since the start of the year because demand has been hit by the coronavirus outbreak and after Russia and OPEC failed to reach a new deal on supply cuts.

Russia refused to support new deeper cuts and Saudi Arabia retaliated by opening its taps and pledging to pump record volumes on to the market.

Saudi Arabia’s national shipping firm, Bahri, has provisionally chartered up to 31 supertankers, up from 19 vessels sought earlier this week, in a sign that the kingdom is looking to flood world markets with crude oil.

Each of these vessels, known as very large crude carriers, can carry a maximum of 2 million barrels of oil.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia had said on Wednesday it would launch a program to boost production capacity for the first time in more than a decade, signaling to Russia and other rivals it was ready for a long battle over production levels and market share.