One of Armenia’s largest commercial banks has issued a $300 million Eurobond to foreign investors at a yield of 6.5 percent, citing “positive” economic trends in the country.
Ardshinbank announced the sale of the 5-year dollar-denominated bonds on its website on Thursday. It is largest ever foreign borrowing operation carried out by an Armenian bank.
Ardshinbank’s chief financial officer, Davit Sargsian, said on Friday that the bank launched the bond issue after holding a series of meetings with Western investors in New York, London, Zurich and Munich last year.
Sargsian said that robust economic growth in Armenia was a key factor behind Ardshinbank’s deicision to attract the relatively low-interest funds from abroad. “Expectations among our bank’s analysts and foreign analysts are positive for 2020 as well,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Sargsian also linked the deal to Armenia’s third $500 million Eurobond issue announced by the government in September.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian hailed Arshinbank’s “unprecedented” deal late on Thursday. “This is a foreign direct investment in our economy,” he wrote on Facebook. “This is a vivid reflection of our economic revolution.”
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian said, for is part, that Ardshinbank’s external borrowing indicates foreign investors’ growing interest in the Armenian economy.
“This is also a very positive signal in terms of the development of the capital market,” Avinian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
As of late December, Ardshinbank held 678.6 billion drams ($1.4 billion) in combined assets.
Facebook Forum