LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Some emerging sovereign borrowers,
particularly those with higher ratings, have ventured into the
Eurobond markets this year as spreads stabilise.
But others have put one toe in the water and been too
hesitant to wade in further.
Secondary market debt spreads swelled to their widest levels
in nearly six years in September, after the collapse of Wall
Street giant Lehman Brothers sent global capital markets into a
tailspin and scuttled the fund-raising plans of most borrowers.
Spreads have narrowed since then, however, from around 900
basis points over U.S. Treasuries to around 630 bps on Thursday.
Following is a summary of proposed international bonds from
sovereign and quasi-sovereign borrowers in central and eastern
Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
(OFFICIAL) indicates confirmed by borrower.
CENTRAL, EASTERN EUROPE
--------------------- ALBANIA ------------------------
ALBANIA - Albania said on Nov. 7 it would postpone plans to
issue a debut Eurobond for 200-300 million euros because the
current market turmoil would have made it too costly. But the
country said it would tap the markets as soon as they stabilise.
(OFFICIAL)
------------------- CZECH REPUBLIC ----------------------
CZECH REPUBLIC - The Czech Republic has mandated Barclays
Capital, Ceska Sporitelna and Deutsche Bank to lead manage a
euro-denominated bond, the finance ministry said on Jan 26.
However, it said on Feb 1 that there was no definite decision on
issuing a Eurobond this year. (OFFICIAL)
- The Czech Republic said on Dec. 1 that it plans to tap
foreign debt markets for up to $3.7 billion next year,
representing about half of its 2009 requirements. (OFFICIAL)
---------------------- LITHUANIA -------------------------
LITHUANIA - Lithuania's prime minister said on Dec 29 that
it still wanted to raise a Eurobond, after cancelling a 400
million euro issue in 2008, but would have to wait until the
second half of 2009 for market conditions to improve. Lithuanian
raised 600 million litas ($249.2 million) from banks in
December. (OFFICIAL)
--------------------- POLAND -----------------------------
POLAND - Poland may issue bonds in yen and Swiss francs in
the first half of 2009, a deputy finance minister told Reuters
on Jan 21. (OFFICIAL)
--------------------- RUSSIA ---------------------------
RUSSIA - Russia has made no plans yet to borrow funds in the
international market, Russia's finance minister said on Feb 3.
(OFFICIAL)
Comments in December by the deputy finance minister had
prompted speculation of a Russian Eurobond or exchange of
existing debt for a new benchmark.
RZhD - Russian state railway RZhD said on Nov. 11 it would
not go ahead with plans for a Eurobond issue of up to $4 billion
until the second half of 2009. (OFFICIAL)
VEB - Russia's state-controlled VEB bank said on Feb 4 it
plans to issue foreign currency bonds worth at least $5 billion.
(OFFICIAL)
---------------------- SLOVAKIA ----------------------------
SLOVAKIA - The chances of Slovakia issuing a euro-denominated
bond in 2009 are minimal due to unfavourable market conditions
and strong demand for domestic debt, but the country may launch
a yen-denominated bond this year, the state debt agency said on
Jan 20. The agency had said in November it wanted to resume
issuing euro-denominated international bonds this year.
(OFFICIAL)
--------------------- SLOVENIA -----------------------------
SLOVENIA - Slovenia's finance ministry plans two 1 billion
euro issues in 2009, the finance ministry said on Jan 5.
(OFFICIAL). It launched a 1 billion three-year euro bond on Jan
28.
--------------------- TURKEY -------------------------------
TURKEY - The Turkish Treasury said on Dec 29 it expected
foreign bond borrowing in 2009 to amount to 5.6 billion lira
($3.7 billion). (OFFICIAL) Turkey issued a $1 billion 8-year
bond on Jan 8.
--------------------- UKRAINE ------------------------------
UKRAINE - Ukraine plans to issue Eurobonds worth $2.0
billion in 2009, higher than the $1.67 billion planned for this
year, according to the draft budget submitted on Sept 16. Before
political and financial woes sent the country to the IMF for a
$16.4 billion loan, Ukraine had said it would issue a $500
million Eurobond in Sept 2008. (OFFICIAL)
MIDDLE EAST
--------------------------- ISRAEL -------------------------
ISRAEL - Israel hopes to raise $1 billion with a
euro-denominated bond in 2009 if market conditions improve, a
senior finance ministry official told Reuters on Jan. 7.
(OFFICIAL)
LEBANON - Lebanon has mandated Credit Suisse, Byblos Bank
and Credit Libanais to roll over Eurobonds maturing this year
valued at around $2.6 billion, bankers said on Feb 5.
AFRICA
---------------------- GHANA -----------------------------
GHANA - Ghana has postponed plans for a $300 million 7-year
bond due to poor global market conditions, one of the banks
arranging the deal said in Sept 2008. (OFFICIAL)
- Ghana's new administration does not intend to default on
repayments of the $750 million Eurobond the country issues in
2007, its transitional finance committee said on Feb 4.
(OFFICIAL)
---------------------- KENYA -----------------------------
KENYA - Kenya issued an 18.5 billion shillings ($232.4
million) infrastructure bond on Jan 28, after saying on Dec 9 it
was exploring ways to plug a budgetary shortfall this fiscal
year other than a planned debut $500 million Eurobond. Kenyan
officials say plans for the sovereign bond will be reviewed in
March (OFFICIAL)
--------------------- NIGERIA ----------------------------
NIGERIA - Nigeria will issue a $500 million 10-year bond to
raise funds for infrastructure costs, the country's finance
ministry said on Sept 10. (OFFICIAL)
-------------------- TANZANIA ----------------------------
TANZANIA - Tanzania has postponed plans to issue a debut
Eurobond totalling at least $500 million until market conditions
improve, the president said on Jan 2. (OFFICIAL)
-------------------- UGANDA ------------------------------
UGANDA - Uganda will not issue a planned debut Eurobond to
fund infrastructure projects due to the turmoil on the world's
credit markets, the central bank said on Dec 12. (OFFICIAL)
(Compiled by Carolyn Cohn and Sebastian Tong)
