Belgium braves turbulence to sell first dollar bond this decade

The Kingdom of Belgium issued on Tuesday its first dollar bond since 1997, a $2bn five year. The timing was not ideal — the issue came after $12bn of supranational, sovereign and agency issuance last week and against an ever more turbulent backdrop. However, the bond was slightly oversubscribed in less than a day and gave the borrower a cost saving of 10bp over the OLO curve, while attracing a drove of European and Middle Eastern central banks. Read Friday’s EuroWeek for full coverage and news of any other SSA deals on the horizon.