Romania taps Eurobond market for fourth time this year

Romania issued on September 20 Eurobonds with maturities of 4 years (EUR 600 mln) and 7 years (EUR 750 mln) amid a cautious market shaped by expectations for a new rate hike from Fed. The bookrunners were Citi, Erste, JP Morgan, Raiffeisen Bank International and Société Générale.

Romania eventually accepted about half of the EUR 2.6 bln orders placed by investors - a relatively small amount compared to previous issues.

The four-year bonds were quoted at the mid-swap rate plus 245bp, and the 7-year bonds at the mid-swap rate plus 405bp, a slight decrease from +255bp (meaning 5.1%) and +415bp (6.7%), respectively, at the opening of the issue during the morning, Profit.ro reported.

For comparison, Bulgaria launched last week EUR 2.25 bln Eurobonds with maturities of 7 and 12 years at spreads versus mid-swap of +185bp and +225bp, namely at yields of 4.33% and 4.81%, respectively.

This year's fourth Eurobond series brings the total amounts raised in 2022 to EUR 3.85 bln and USD 3.85 bln (plus USD 400 mln to refinance another Eurobond).

"The gross financing requirement at the government level for the year 2022 is revised to the amount of approximately RON 148.6 bln (some EUR 30 bln), determined by the projected level of the budget deficit of 5.8% of GDP or approximately RON 80.1 bln," according to a Finance Ministry's note.

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