Exclusive: Icelandic Debt Management Head: Will Probably Issue 2044 Maturity in Q4

10 July 2025

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – The Ministry of Finance of Iceland could issue the 2044 bond it announced in Q4, according to its Head of Funding and Debt Management, Esther Finnbogadóttir.

In an interview with Econostream on July 3 (see transcript here), Finnbogadóttir said that out of the three new series announced in the annual borrowing plan, Iceland had yet to issue two of them.

‘One has already been done, and it is a nominal bond maturing in 2038’, she said. ‘Then we have two index-linked series that we are going to issue and will mature in 2029 and 2044.’

The Ministry of Finance was going to hold the first auction on the 2029 maturity on July 4, she said.

By omitting any reference to the timing of the 2044 maturity in their latest quarterly issuance plan released on June 30, Finnbogadóttir said that ‘you can read between the lines and understand that we will probably go ahead in Q4.’

After the issuance of Iceland’s gender bond in 2024, the Ministry of Finance was ‘more likely than not’ to consider issuing another gender bond at some point in the future, she said.

‘The maturity [of the 2024 gender bond] was only three years, and we will allocate the proceeds from that bond until it matures’, she said. ‘So, we might consider something after this.’

Regarding green bond issuance, Finnbogadóttir said that Iceland could consider new issuances after 2026 as many expenditures and investments were expected in this sector.

‘It would be ideal for us to at least have another point in the curve after this allocation period is over’, she said about the green curve. ‘As from 2027, we could be considering another issuance, but no decisions have been made in that regard.’

After the issuance of a benchmark bond in May this year, it was ‘highly unlikely’ that Iceland would deliver another benchmark issuance in the remainder of 2025, she said.

Europe was Iceland’s core market, so--barring any shocks that could alter that--the Ministry of Finance was more likely to focus on the euro than on other currencies, she said.

However, Finnbogadóttir said that ‘[i]f a USD issuance makes sense for us, we would definitely consider it.’

Asked about the 2024 volcanic eruptions, she explained that debt issuance had to rise by ISK 30 billion as a result of these events, due to the establishment of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created to purchase residential homes in the affected area.