ECONOMY
Azerbaijan raises $1.25bn in international bond debut
Baku, March 12 (AZERTAC). Azerbaijan has raised $1.25bn in its first international bond sale, in a sign of continued investor interest in emerging economy debt.
Azerbaijan sold a benchmark 10-year bond with a 5 per cent yield.
This index exceeded US government securities by 2.22%. Russia’s government securities have been placed with annual YTM of 2.41%, Turkey’s government securities saw 2.74%.
Azerbaijan is a top-25 global oil producer and a key strategic export opening for energy consumers in Europe, with economic growth of 6 per cent last year.
The country received a boost in December when a BP-led consortium announced an agreement to launch a $28bn project to develop the huge Shah Deniz gas field.
The bond is likely to serve as a benchmark for Azerbaijani companies with International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest, already signalling that it may tap the eurobond market this year.
Lead managers on the bond issue were Barclays, Citi and Deutsche Bank.