By John Lee. Following Iraq’s successful return to the bond markets earlier this year, it is now reportedly planning a $2 billion sovereign bond issue in 2018. The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Dr. Ali Mohsen Ismail Al-Allaq [Alak] (pictured), told Reuters that the plan is currently awaiting parliamentary approval. He added […]
Tag Archives | Sovereign Debt
Huge Demand for Iraqi Govt Bonds
By John Lee. Iraq opened the books yesterday on its first independent bond sale in a decade. “Investor demand was huge,” writese Marcus Ashworth at Bloomberg. “The deal was seven times oversubscribed.” The $1-billion, dollar-denominated bond, maturing in March 2023, was expected yield 7 percent, but demand enabled that to be cut to 6.75 percent. […]
Iraq to sell new USD Govt Bonds
By John Lee. The Financial Times reports that Iraq has appointed Citi, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan as joint bookrunners for a new five-year government bond. The issue is described as a dollar-denominated, long-dated, benchmark-scale bond; investor meetings scheduled over the coming days. In January, Iraq raised $1 billion of five-year bonds, guaranteed by the US, […]
Fitch Revises Outlook on Iraq to Stable; Affirms at ‘B-‘
Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Iraq’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Stable from Negative and affirmed the IDR at ‘B-‘. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at ‘B-‘ and the Short-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at ‘B’. KEY RATING DRIVERS The revision of the Outlook reflects the following key rating drivers: Iraq’s fiscal […]
Govt Issues $1bn Sovereign Bond with US Guarantee
Iraq has successfully closed on its offering of a $1 billion sovereign bond issuance guaranteed by the United States of America. This loan guarantee underscores the strong and enduring commitment of the United States to support the government of Iraq in this critical moment in the fight against Da’esh. As part of a comprehensive international […]
Fitch revises Iraq’s Outlook to Negative
Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook on Iraq’s Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the IDR at ‘B-‘. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at ‘B-‘ and the Short-Term foreign currency IDR at ‘B’. KEY RATING DRIVERS The revision of the Outlook reflects the following key rating drivers: […]
Moody’s Withdraws Credit Rating on Planned Iraqi Bonds
By John Lee. Moody’s Investors Service has today withdrawn its provisional rating of (P)Caa1 for Government of Iraq’s planned USD bond issuance. The issuance rating has been withdrawn following statements made by Iraq’s Deputy Finance Minister that the issuance plans have been put on hold. The last rating action was in September 2015 when Moody’s […]
Iraq Seeks $500 million from Islamic Development Bank
By Simon Kent. Two days after the beginning of Iraq’s entry into the Eurobond market, in which the country hopes to raise up to $6 billion, Iraq has announced it is seeking a $500 million loan from the Jeddah based Islamic Development Bank (IDB.) However, according to a source in the Iraqi govt. the sum […]