Georgia's Finance Ministry places govt bonds denominated in nat'l currency totaling $150 mln

TBILISI. May 22 (Interfax) - Georgia's Finance Ministry has placed 400 million lari, $150 million at the current exchange rate, in treasury bonds for five years and nine months, the ministry said.

The securities were placed through syndication, with two Georgian investment banks, Galt&Taggart and TBC Capital, acting as organizers.

The interest rate on the government bonds during the placement was set at 9% per annum.

"This was the first time that Georgian government securities were placed through syndication. The syndication saw high investor activity. Both residents and non-residents expressed interest in the securities, resulting in total demand of 1.8 billion lari, 4.5 times exceeding the issue volume," the Finance Ministry said.

The bonds mature on April 28, 2032. The issue includes 11 semi-annual coupon periods.

Georgia's Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili in February said that the Finance Ministry was planning to issue large volumes of lari-denominated treasury bonds for international investors, given the interest of foreign investors in Georgian government bonds.

Georgia in early February placed $500 million in 5-year unsecured Eurobonds on the London Stock Exchange with a coupon of 5.125% per annum and maturity on January 28, 2031. JPMorgan, Citi, ICBC, and Societe Generale arranged the issue. The new issue is to refinance $500 million in 5-year Eurobonds issued in April 2021 with a coupon rate of 2.75%. Investor demand for Georgia-2031 Eurobonds exceeded supply by more than five times, reaching $2.8 billion.

The maximum issue amount for government bonds in the national currency of the Georgian Ministry of Finance previously did not exceed 110 million lari.

The official exchange rate as on May 22, 2026, is 2.675 lari/$1.