Oradea borrows 100bn ROL

Oradea City on Friday released the largest bond issue in the entire post-war history of the Romanian capital market. The municipal bonds sold on the primary market are worth 100bn ROL (nearly $3 million). The cash therefrom raised will be used for a 360bn ROL project aimed at rehabilitating and modernising the streets of the city. The offering is brokered by BCR Securities, with the bonds sold through Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank – BCR) desks. The bondholders will receive the due interest every quarter. The interest will be calculated as an average between the passive and active interests on the interbank market plus 0.98% and is fixed for the first coupon only (17%). This is the lowest rate ever offered by a municipality for a municipal bond issue. ZF