Kazakhstan sets record with 6.6b yuan panda bond issuance

Kazakhstan recently issued 6.6 billion yuan ($983 million) in panda bonds on the China Interbank Bond Market, setting a new record for the largest single panda bond issuance by a Central Asian issuer.

The issuance includes a three-year tranche worth 5 billion yuan and a five-year tranche worth 1.6 billion yuan, with coupon rates of 1.82 percent and 1.95 percent, respectively.

China International Capital Corp acted as a lead underwriter and bookrunner for this offering. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and the Export-Import Bank of China acted as joint underwriters and joint bookrunners. Teniz Capital Investment Banking acted as the sole local manager on the Kazakh side.

Following the successful issuance of its first sovereign panda bond worth 3.4 billion yuan in May, the latest issuance marks Kazakhstan's return to the Chinese panda bond market. With a combined volume of 10 billion yuan across the two issuances, this move holds significant importance for deepening financial cooperation between China and Kazakhstan, promoting the interconnectivity of the two countries' capital markets, and advancing the internationalization of the renminbi.

Bank of China said the successful issuance of panda bonds fully demonstrates the strong appeal of China's capital markets to global sovereign financing and further enhances the international influence of the renminbi as a global financing currency.