YEREVAN, March 26. / ARKA /.Armenia has raised $487.84 million from the second issue of Eurobonds, deputy finance minister Pavel Safaryan said at a Cabinet session today.

Armenia sold a $500 million 10-year dollar bond on March 19 for only the second time on record, paying a yield of 7.5%.  International law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLC was hired by the Armenian government to act as an international consultant for the issue, while Deutsche Bank, HSBC Bank and JP Morgan acted as underwriters.

Safaryan said the government will use the Eurobond proceeds to buy back up to $200 million of the previous dollar bond issue carried out in 2013.

Safaryan said also about 40 billion drams will be used to finance Armenia’s budget deficit and “neutralize” the Russian recession’s spillover effects on the Armenian economy.

Safaryan said the remaining money will be channeled into the Stabilization Fund to enable the government to maintain fiscal stability and to fully finance its spending items.
According to the deputy minister, the raised proceeds will reach he finance ministry's treasury account on 27 March.

Armenia first issued $700 million worth dollar-denominated bonds in September 2013 at the yield of 6.25 percent. According to Armenian finance ministry, investors were ready to buy as much as $3 billion worth of Armenian external bonds.

The bulk of $700 million was used to repay a $500 million Russian loan ten years ahead of schedule. According to the Central Bank of Armenia, $56 million worth transactions were made with Armenian Eurobonds in 2014 in the secondary market.-0-