Demand for Turkish bonds 3 times issue size

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's Treasury and Finance Ministry announced that international investors’ demand for a new Turkish bond issue was nearly triple its actual size.

"The offering attracted an orderbook of approximately 3 times the actual issue size from more than 200 accounts," the ministry noted in a written statement, released on Wednesday.

Three international lenders -- BNP Paribas, Citigroup and HSBC -- were authorized to issue the U.S. dollar-denominated Turkish bonds on Tuesday, due in August 2024 as part of the 2019 external borrowing program.

The transaction was finalized with a nominal amount of $2.25 billion, according to the statement.

The bond has a coupon rate of 6.35%, and its yield rate for investors is 6.45%.

The treasury said 39% of the bonds were sold to investors in the U.K., 27% in the U.S., 18% in other European countries, 12% in Turkey and 4% elsewhere.

"With this transaction, the amount of funds that has been raised from the international capital markets in 2019 has reached a total of approximately $8.7 billion," it added.