Eight Kazakh regions and Astana raise KZT 69.2 billion in bonds

Local executive bodies of eight Kazakh regions and the capital Astana raised KZT 69.2bn in one special trading session on 30 October, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange said. Eighteen bonds were placed: 17 new issues and one existing bond of Aktobe region.

The 17 new issues are the ones the exchange added to its government securities sector a day earlier, and the amounts placed, as the exchange rounds them, match the volumes in its listing notice. The exchange said the bonds were issued to finance construction and modernisation of wastewater treatment facilities and of heat, electricity, water supply and disposal networks, and the construction or purchase of housing, including apartments in shared housing construction.

Aktobe region was the largest borrower. Its six bonds raised about KZT 26.7bn, led by a KZT 15.1bn issue, ABK046_445, which runs to 30 August 2030 with a coupon of 14.47 per cent a year, paid semi-annually. Aktobe also placed KZT 1.0bn of ABK024_330, a bond dated 22 June 2026 with a total volume of KZT 4.23bn, a coupon of 0.35 per cent and maturity on 22 June 2028. Abai region raised about KZT 12.0bn in two issues, Almaty region about KZT 11.2bn in three, West Kazakhstan region KZT 8.0bn, Mangystau region about KZT 5.1bn in two and Zhetisu region KZT 4.8bn. Astana's single five-year issue raised KZT 0.1bn. After Aktobe's largest bond, the biggest single placements were Abai region's AIK046_434 at KZT 9.4bn, Almaty region's ATK046_440 at KZT 8.9bn, West Kazakhstan region's ZKK046_436 at KZT 8.0bn and Aktobe region's ABK084_446 at KZT 7.7bn.

The new issues pay one of three coupons. The bonds that run to 30 August 2030 pay 14.47 or 16.52 per cent a year, semi-annually, and Abai region placed one issue at each rate for the same maturity. The seven-year and ten-year bonds of Almaty, Aktobe and Mangystau regions pay 12.79 per cent a year in annual coupons, and Astana's five-year issue pays the same rate semi-annually. The National Bank of Kazakhstan cut its base rate to 15.75 per cent on 23 October, so only the three 16.52 per cent issues, of Abai, West Kazakhstan and Ulytau regions, pay above it. The exchange's notice gives no bids or yields for the session.

The placement follows the Ministry of Finance's October bond auctions and the Kazakhstan Housing Company's KZT 75bn placement at 16.22 per cent on 29 October, and comes a week after the base rate cut. The regional totals and the counts of issues by coupon are Data Desk additions from the exchange's list; the amounts by issue are as the exchange published them.