National Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs (NBU), Uzbekistan’s largest bank by assets, plans a $300 million debut Eurobond issue, the Uzbek finance ministry said on Tuesday.
State-owned NBU will become the second Uzbek bank to tap the Eurobond market after Uzpromstroybank, another state-owned lender, sold a $300 million bond with a yield of 6% last November.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev this month also instructed the country’s biggest miner, Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company, to issue at least $300 million in Eurobonds to fund its investment projects.
“The planned NBU Eurobond issue is the continuation of Uzpromstroybank’s debut corporate international debt offering,” said Sardor Koshnazarov, managing director of Uzbek investment firm Silk Capital.
“We expect similar multi-billion dollar international offerings in coming years, in particular from major state-owned enterprises”.
