Baku, Azerbaijan, July 10
By Fakhri Vakilov- Trend:
Uzbekistan can get access to global debt markets by once again issuing eurobonds in dollars this year after the first successful start of Eurobonds in February, Trend reports citing Uzbek media.
Chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan Mamariso Nurmuratov made this announcement at the International Financial Congress in St. Petersburg on July 3-5.
In February 2019, Uzbekistan placed debut eurobonds with a circulation period of 5 and 10 years with a total volume of $1 billion and a yield of 4.75 percent and 5.375 percent per annum, respectively.
The rating agencies Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s assigned the first issue a BB- rating, which is a similar rating from Brazil, Northern Macedonia and Georgia.
Nurmuratov stated that new bonds will be issued for a similar amount of $ 1 billion. Commercial banks of Uzbekistan can also start selling dollar bonds this year, the head of the Central Bank said.
“We do not need money for government spending, but we must be present on the international market,” the head of the Central Bank said. He added that at the moment, it makes sense to issue bonds in dollars, because the country's foreign trade is carried out mainly in this currency.
Investors have offered more than $5.5 billion for the first sale of Eurobonds in Uzbekistan. Bloomberg Barclay Indices report that bonds have risen to 8.4 percent since their sale on February 14, compared with 6.2 percent on average for dollar debts in developing markets.
The funds received from the first sale were distributed as follows: $889.2 million was placed through an auction into deposit accounts of commercial banks, $20 million was issued as a debt to Agrobank and $ 89.9 million was issued as a loan to Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Complex.
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