South Asia

Asia’s syndicated loan market is offering razor-sharp funding to sovereign borrowers, and that is not just limited to the more developed countries in the market. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are returning to the market with $1.45bn of loans between them, and both look set to cut their pricing significantly. Pan Yue reports.

An overnight bookbuild in Oil & Gas Development Co this week reopened the market for Pakistan equity deals, as investors clamoured for shares in the Prp5.7bn ($49.7m) offering.

China plans to turn Hainan into its latest trade laboratory, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns countries joining the Belt and Road Initiative against accumulating excessive debt, and the securities watchdog says it will allow international participants to trade onshore iron ore futures by early May.

An unnamed institutional investor has launched a block sale of shares in Pakistan-based Oil & Gas Development Co worth up to Prp5.9bn ($50.8m).

Sri Lanka has sent out a request for proposals for an up to $1bn-equivalent offshore loan, which can be denominated in dollars, Japanese yen or euros.

Pakistan is back in the offshore syndicated loan market for a $450m facility led by two banks.

Summit Power International has opened books for the first IPO of a Bangladeshi firm in Singapore, hoping to raise $260m.

India’s Dewan Housing Finance Corp (DHFL) finally sold its first offshore rupee bond this week in a deal which has been two years in the making.

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka grabbed $2.5bn from its largest bond on record on Wednesday, as investors showed their support to a country that has been buffeted by numerous problems recently.

A group of 23 banks opened syndication for Tata Steel’s $1.86bn dual-currency facility on Monday, but only after the deal went through numerous changes on its way to the market.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the cap on foreign investment in rupee debt, giving a boost to a market whose growth was hindered last summer due to restrictions.

Indian power financier National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) has closed its $350m-equivalent yen-denominated borrowing, attracting eight Japanese participants.