IMF: Romania To Launch 1st International MTN Issue By Mid-Year

05.09.2011 By Florentina Dragu

Romania's Finance Ministry will launch a first international bond issue of its EUR7 billion medium term notes (MTNs) program by the second half of 2011, an official of the International Monetary Fund said Monday.

"As far as I know, they (the ministry) will go on the international markets in the first half of this year, namely in the next two months," IMF mission head Jeffrey Franks told a news conference in Bucharest.

In 2010, Romania announced a three-year MTNs program worth up to EUR7 billion. However, the country didn't attract any funds via the program so far.

Franks said Romania's public debt is "manageable", adding that the country doesn't need to restructure its debt.

Last week, the ministry sold debt worth EUR939 million in three-year foreign currency bonds on the local market, at an average interest of 4.89% a year.

The latest international debt sale took place in March 2010, when the ministry attracted EUR1 billion in a five-year Eurobond, at an annual yield of 5.17%.