Exclusive: Croatia Debt Head: Could Consider Long Bond Issuance to Extend Average Maturity

20 December 2024

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Croatia could consider issuing long bond tenors if it were to extend its average maturity profile, according to Hrvoje Radovanic, director of the Croatian Public Debt Management Directorate.

In an interview with Econostream on December 5, Radovanic said Croatia was considering extending its average maturity profile, currently ‘somewhere close to 6 years for remaining maturity.’

‘Personally, I would like to extend it longer’, he said, ‘but that would be subject to investors’ preferences in the years to come.’

Asked if this extension could be done via ultra-long bond issuances, Radovanic said Croatia might be looking at that option but wouldn’t feel forced to take it.

‘We might consider doing it inside eventual attractive opportunity’, he said.

Since there was no demand for this part of the curve in the domestic market, which represents two thirds of Croatia’s total debt, this issuance could potentially be done in the international market, he indicated.

Issuances in 2025 would be more predictable and its structure would be similar to that of this year’s, Radovanic said.

‘I would expect one international benchmark issuance of a Eurobond and several tranches of domestic bond issuances in the local market’, he said.

One of the international bonds of €1.5 billion was due in March and two domestic bonds of €2.5 billion in total were due earlier that month, he said.

‘Our international issuance might come before that’, he added.

As for its investor base, Radovanic expected total debt to remain mostly residentially owned.

Croatia was not planning to issue a green bond next year, he said, but the Public Debt Management Directorate would look into it.

Regarding the ‘e-Treasury’ online platform for retail sovereign subscription, Radovanic announced that they were ‘developing even further this application for mobile phones, which will be available at the end of Q1’.