The country last issued a foreign currency bond in 2000 and is planning to raise about $500m in dollar-denominated securities in early 2010. The bond is aimed at helping companies raise capital, as investors are more likely to buy debt when there is a comparable government benchmark bond. This leads to the cost of borrowing being lowered for emerging market corporate issuers as companies seek to refinance debt and bolster their balance sheets. Kazakhstan's financial sector was hit particularly hard by the financial crisis. Domestic banks struggled to provide liquidity and confidence to the market, which led to the government spending $19bn over the past two years to shore up the banking sector.
Emerging market debt issuance has resurged in 2009 as many other emerging market countries have also started to tap the bond market in a sign of investors' increasing appetite for emerging market bonds. Emerging market sovereign bond issuance has rocketed to $72bn since March this year, according to Dealogic.
Meanwhile, Belarus and Ukraine are also preparing to enter the sovereign bond market in 2010; the two countries are seeking about $370m and $2bn, respectively. The International Monetary Fund has delayed a $3.8bn loan tranche to Ukraine until it sees an improvement in its public finance management.
