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Weekly Lists
June 1, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 26
bne:Credit Council of EU
greenlights €1bn of financial assistance for Ukraine
World Bank’s IFC issues first Uzbek soum-denominated bond
The Council of the European Union has greenlighted a new €1bn macro-financial assistance (MFA) programme for Ukraine, the Council said in a statement on May 29.
The new assistance will cover Ukraine’s financing needs over a period of two and a half years. The loans will support economic stabilisation and a programme of structural reforms.
This will be the fourth MFA programme to be signed between Ukraine and the EU, and it is subject to approval by the European Parliament and the Council. In late 2017, the European Commis- sion refused to allocate the last €600mn tranche to Ukraine out of its previous MFA programme.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has reportedly issued the first ever Uzbek soum-denominated bond “on the international markets”, raising UZS80bn (€2.86mn) to expand lending for micro, small- and medium-enterprises in Uzbekistan, according to a May 28 report by state-run news agency UzDaily.
The deal arranged by ING Bank is aimed at listing the bond, dubbed “Samarkand”, on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), though the report was unclear as to whether the bond was already issued on the LSE or not. The proceeds from the bond will be used to support the country’s “leading private bank”, Hamkorbank, allowing the lender to boost long-term local currency financing as it enables businesses to grow, while avoiding foreign currency risks.
“The two-year bond was placed with European asset managers dedicated to emerging markets,” the report added.
Poland's consumer price index (CPI) grew 1.7% y/y in May, 0.1pp above the annual expansion in April, statistics office GUS announced in a flash estimate on May 30.
The reading is 0.2pp off the consensus and shows inflation continu- ing the trend of moderate growth that the booming economy and rising wages have so far been unable to push higher. The subdued price growth will affirm the dovish status quo during Poland’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) meeting next week.
Poland’s interest rates have sat at a record-low level of 1.5% since March 2015. Despite the robust economy, a hike is currently off the table and possibly not in sight until the end of 2019 or even beyond, given the persistently moderate CPI growth.
Poland posts subdued CPI growth in May