EBRD buys 27.33 mln lei (5.5 mln euro) in Bucharest municipal bond

As part of its decision to invest, the bank will mobilise technical assistance to support Bucharest in developing a Green City Action Plan, the EBRD said in a document posted on its website.

The plan will articulate the city's vision, strategic objectives and priority actions and investments to address its priority environmental challenges.

The bond issue has a 10-year maturity and was launched to refinance the City's 7-year bond tranche, maturing on May 4 2022.

The bond started trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Friday. In the private placement, the municipality issued 55,500 registered, non-convertible, unsecured bonds denominated in lei with a nominal unit value of 10,000 lei and a fixed annual interest rate of 7.33% per year. The bonds will mature on April 19, 2032, the bourse said in a press release on Friday.

Bucharest the largest city of Romania with around 1.8 million inhabitants, generates over 20% of the country's GDP, with local GDP more than three times that of the national average.

In November 2021, Fitch reaffirmed ratings for Bucharest at "BBB-", with negative outlook. Fitch said that the affirmation reflects Bucharest's continuing sound operating performance, moderate debt levels relative to the city's operating balance and current revenue, and sound debt ratios.

(1 euro=4.9480 lei)