BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 30
By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:
Uzbekistan is considering the possibility of issuing a new tranche of Eurobonds (international bonds) in 2020, said Deputy Minister of Finance Ahadbek Haydarov, Trend reports citing Uzbek media.
According to him, the decision on the placement of government Eurobonds will be made based on the market situation and budget needs.
“We are going to issue Eurobonds for at least $500 million. Even if we enter the market, then at least with $500 million,” Haydarov said.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank in a joint comment said that there is no plan to issue additional sovereign international bonds in 2019.
“The issue of international bonds on world capital markets is one of the most effective and promising market-based tools for attracting external financing both for the government of Uzbekistan and for public and private companies,” the statement said.
Uzbekistan placed the first 5 and 10-year Eurobonds totaling $1 billion in February this year.
The yield of 5-year securities in the amount of $500 million was 4.75 percent per annum, and the yield of 10-year securities in the amount of $500 million was 5.375 percent.
The maturity dates of the bonds were set for 2024 and 2029.
Investor demand exceeded the placement almost four times and reached $3.8 billion from about 150 institutional investors. This made it possible to lower the yield benchmarks from 5.625–5.75 percent and 6 per annum to 4.75 percent and 5.375 percent per annum, respectively.
Most of the 5-year and 10-year bonds were bought by investors from the UK - 39 and 32 percent, respectively, while the US investors bought 23 and 31 percent, continental European investors bought 32 and 27 percent, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa investors bought 6 and 10 percent.
The main buyers of Eurobonds were fund managers - 75 and 78 percent, insurance companies and pension funds - 20 and 16 percent, while banks and private banks bought 5 and 6 percent.
The placement was organized by J.P. Morgan, Citi and Gazprombank.
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