On June 18, 2014, Cyprus officially returned to the international debt markets with a successful issuance of a five-year €750 million bond, bearing a coupon rate of 4.75%. The initial target of raising €500 million was increased upwards to €750 million after the bond was oversubscribed with offers exceeding €2 billion. According to Cyprus’ President, Nicos Anastasiades: “Today’s success doesn’t in any way signify the easing of the effort to reform and strengthen our economy. On the contrary, we will continue with the same resolve and consistency our effort to fix and restore our growth prospects.”
The success of the bond issue is an important milestone for Cyprus and its efforts to reassert its position as a stable economy. The fact that the island returned to the markets much earlier than had been originally anticipated by international analysts is a positive sign for the recovering Cyprus economy and signifies that the rescue plan and other economic measures are on the right track.
The underwriting and marketing of the bond issue was arranged by Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS and VTB Capital.
