site.btaBulgaria Launches Issue of 10-Year Euro-Denominated Bonds

Bulgaria surprisingly launched an issue of euro-denominated bonds with 10-year maturity on the international markets, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported on Tuesday. Bids are to be submitted and the size and the price of the issue are to be determined in the course of the day on Tuesday.

What is surprising is that the issue was announced on the same day that the submission of bids began, BNR said.

Experts commented unofficially to the station that the current window for debt financing through the external market is very auspicious as state security yields have dropped slightly. Although Bulgaria has extended its 2022 state budget into 2023 instead of adopting a new annual budget, it has the right to assume new debt, BNR said.

The decision was perhaps prompted by the need to raise money for loan payments in March.

In 2022, Bulgaria did not take out the maximum amount of new debt allowed by its State Budget Act. The last time the country went out on international markets was in September, when it raised over EUR 2 billion, BNR recalled.