(Merrill Lynch) Bank of America acquired most of the eurobonds of Tajikistan

Tajikistan put up for sale on the international financial market the second package of government securities (Eurobonds) in the amount of $ 500 million, Radio Ozodi was informed by a source in the Ministry of Finance of the country.

It is reported that most of the Eurobonds was purchased by the American investment bank Merrill Lynch. By the way, this investment bank is already one of the active holders of state bonds of Tajikistan.

Two weeks ago, according to the press service of the National Bank of Tajikistan, representatives of Merrill Lynch, as well as investment funds Fidelity, Metlife, BNP Paribas, T. Rowe Price, Barings, Eaton Vance and Danske, visited the Rogun HPP and accompanied by the first deputy chairman of the NBT, Jamoliddin Nuraliyev familiarized themselves with the process of construction of various hydroelectric plant facilities.

Merrill Lynch, a large US investment bank headquartered in New York, was acquired in 2008, and since 2013 is fully integrated into the structure of Bank of America.

In September, the NBT reported on the successful debut of government securities (Eurobonds) on the international financial market. The securities were put up for sale in the amount of $ 500 million to raise funds for the construction of the Rogun HPP.

The road show of government bonds of Tajikistan was held from August 28 to September 8 in four cities - London, Zurich, New York and Boston.

According to the country's main regulator, 38% of the bonds were purchased by investors from the United States, 24% from the UK, 35% from the European Union countries and a small part of 3% from Asia. The yield of coupons on bonds is up to 7,125% per annum. Government bonds of Tajikistan by type of investors were sold to fund managers (85%), hedge funds (9%), banks and other financial institutions (6%).

"After successful negotiations, investors' requests for the purchase of government bonds in Tajikistan increased to $ 4.5 billion and the yield on coupons on bonds fell from 8% to 7,125% per annum," the National Bank of Tajikistan said.

In February, the permanent representative of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Pradeep Srivastava in Tajikistan said that it would be difficult for the Tajik government to return the funds raised through the sale of Eurobonds.

According to him, the loan was granted to Tajikistan at very high interest rates - 7.1%. "This means that $ 35 million annually will be paid only on interest," said ADB representative in Tajikistan.

(Source: RFERL Tajikistan)