September 1 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia’s government took out a 50 million euro ($50.149 million) loan from Sparkasse Bank, the Skopje-based unit of Austria's Steiermarkische Bank und Sparkassen, local media reported.
The loan carries an interest rate of 2.5%, news portal Kanal 5 quoted finance minister Fatmir Besimi as saying on Tuesday.
The government made the borrowing to cover its financing needs until a new Eurobond is issued, Besimi stated, adding that the finance ministry is waiting for a more favourable time to issue a new Eurobond due to high interest rates at the moment.
North Macedonia last placed a Eurobond in March 2021. The 700 million euro Eurobond has a term of seven years.
North Macedonia's budget was in deficit of 10.2 billion denars ($164.7 million/165.2 million euro) in the seven months through July, latest data from the finance ministry show.
(1 euro = $1.00238)