Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan plans to continue issuing sovereign bonds in the future, Azerbaijan's Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said.

He noted however that the bonds are not expected to be issued this year and in euros.

The first sovereign Eurobonds in Azerbaijan was issued on March 10 in the amount of $1.25 billion, with the maturity rate of 10 years.

The demand for the bonds exceeded the set volume by four times and drew the attention of investors from 160 countries.

British investors purchased 25 percent of the bonds, investors from Germany bought 18 percent, and the remaining 10 percent were purchased by buyers from other countries, including Singapore and Israel.

The bonds' profitability amounted to 222 basis points against the U.S. Treasuries.

The emission of the debt in Chinese Yuan is a possible option for the issuance of bonds, as this currency remains highly stable in the world.

This option is backed up by the recent visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to China, as well as the Chinese currency's low volatility, which makes it logical to accumulate reserves in it.

At the same time, it is necessary to consider Yuan's hard ties to the U.S. dollar, as well as potential difficulties in converting large amounts of assets in Yuan, during the reserves management.

Fitch Ratings assigned Azerbaijan's 2,024 Eurobonds worth $1.25 billion a 'BBB-' rating in line with the sovereign's foreign currency Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR).