Cyprus raises €100m via overseas placement

Crisis-hit Cyprus, shut out of international markets for at least three years, said on Wednesday it has raised 100 million euros (138 million U.S. dollars) in a six-year bond via a private placement with an overseas investor. This was its first international debt issue since mid-2011. Cyprus was granted a 10-billion-euro bailout from the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund a year ago, which also involved the recapitalization of its main bank with depositors' money in the world's first bail-in. The Ministry of Finance said in a statement that the international bond for a nominal value of 100 million euros had a coupon of 6.50 percent. It added the bonds will be listed at the London Stock Exchange and be settled via Euroclear. It also said the proceeds of the transaction will be used for public debt management purposes, including government financing, always in compliance with Cyprus' economic adjustment program. The ministry said the success of the transaction was attributed to the gradual rebuilding of confidence to Cyprus' economy "which in turn is a result of the stronger than expected performance and full compliance of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Stability Mechanism/International Monetary Fund adjustment program." It said it will continue assessing market conditions and options as part of the broader strategy aiming towards the full restoration of market access. Finance Minister Haris Georgiades has said Cyprus may probe the markets as early as the first half of 2015, well ahead of the end of its adjustment program in march 2016. In another development, private-sector deposits in Cypriot banks rose slightly in March for the first time since November, according to data released by the European Central Bank. Bank deposits have been declining after massive transfers of capital abroad even before the bail-in was formally announce in March 2013. Private-sector deposits at Cypriot banks rose in March by 0.5 percent to 34.6 billion euros. They continued to be 32 percent below their peak of 50.5 billion euros in May 2012. (1 euro = 1.38 U.S. dollars)