THE FINANCE MINISTRY'S Debt and Liquidity Management Agency (ARDAL) will float the next Eurobond issue later than originally planned.
The agency originally wanted to float the €1 billion benchmark issue in the first quarter of 2007. Maturity of Eurobonds with a fixed yield should have ranged from 10 to 20 years. However, this will not happen by the end of March and the Eurobond issue will probably be floated in the second quarter 2007, said the head of ARDAL debt management department, Tomáš Kapusta.
ARDAL originally wanted to time the Eurobond issue for the first quarter, when government obligations worth over Sk47 billion (€1.4 billion) were maturing. There is, however, enough money in the state's pockets at the moment, so the agency does not urgently need to issue new bonds. If necessary, it can use funds from the State Treasury system, which centralizes all revenues of the general government.
