BRATISLAVA, November 7, (WEBNOVINY) – Following unofficial information from previous days, the authorities confirmed on Wednesday that Slovakia is preparing for a new issue of Eurobonds. The government’s Debt and Liquidity Management Agency (ARDAL) reported that it entrusted three banks with managing the bond issue. „The Slovak Republic, acting through the Ministry of Finance and represented by the Debt and Liquidity Management Agency gave a mandate to SG CIB, Slovenska Sporitelna (Erste Group) and UniCredit as leading co-managers of a new benchmark government bond issue denominated in euros,“ said Juraj Pekar of the debt management department at ARDAL. He said the transaction will take place in the near future depending on current market conditions.
In previous days, Reuters reported about the upcoming bond issue. According to its sources from the market, its purpose will be stockpiling cash debt servicing for 2013. A government source told Reuters that the country is considering issuing new Eurobonds through a syndicate by the end of this year, even though Slovakia borrowed EUR 7.5 billion needed to finance its debt this year in previous months. The maturity of the new bonds should be at least five years, the source told Reuters.
Slovakia last entered international markets in May of this year when on the U.S. market it sold 10-year government bonds for USD 1.5 billion. On the Eurobond market it last sold securities through a syndicate in January of this year. Investors then bought Slovak 5-year bonds for EUR 1 billion.
SITA