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bne July 2019 Companies & Markets I 23
decision is not on our side. But I think in the near future we will reach an agreement on how to move forward.”
Belarus, like the other countries in the region, is on a drive to deepen its domestic capital market and expand the
pool of potential investors. For their part the yield-hungry international investors are keen on the high-yield local currency bonds, especially since the US Federal Reserve bank made it clear that it would halt its monetary policy tightening earlier this year making investors “risk on” again.
“For business we are very attractive for the foreign investors,” said Yermolovich. “The size of [the bond] business and the size of potential operations on the market is more than $20bn as currently we already have some $5bn as foreign investment. It's already a big business.”
Croatia sells €1.5bn Eurobond on most favourable terms
to date
bne IntelliNews
Croatia successfully issued a 10-year Eurobond on the international capital market, raising €1.5bn, the finance ministry announced.
The bond, maturing in 2029, had an annual coupon interest rate of 1.125% and final yield of 1.324%, the most favourable terms achieved by Croatia to date.
A finance ministry statement noted that the final price was 30 basis points lower than the initially published price. The bond was sold without a premium, which unusual for international transactions this year, the ministry stressed.
The new bond will be used to refinance an earlier $1.5bn 6.75% Eurobond due to expire in November, saving over HRK500mn (€67mn) a year.
“The record low interest rate reflects to a large extent the improvement of the macroeconomic picture and the reduction of macroeconomic imbalances in the Republic of Croatia, which has contributed to raising the country’s credit rating to investment grade,” according to the finance ministry.
“The size of the bond business and the size of potential operations on the market is more than $20bn”
Yermolovich is clearly frustrated by the slow pace of progress and the delay in hooking up to the Clearstream system, which is rapidly becoming a standard item in the toolbox of finance ministries across the region.
“We see a huge business perspective. We are ready to change the legislation. We are ready to move fast in this direction. We don't want intermediaries in this business. We want to be connected directly,” Yermolovich said.
The bond was issued a week after Fitch raised the Croatian credit rating from BB + to BBB, following S&P which also raised Croatia to investment grade earlier this year.
Zagreb reported “remarkable” interest from the international investor community, with demand totalling around €5.5bn, meaning the bond was about 3.7 times oversubscribed. A number of new names came forward
“Zagreb reported “remarkable” interest from the international
for the issue, with the finance ministry describing a “very good geographical diversification” of investors spanning Central and East European countries, Germany, the UK and Ireland, Austria, France, the US and the Benelux countries.
The deal was arranged by Citigroup, Erste Group and JP Morgan.
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