Mongolia Plans First Dollar Bond Since Credit Rating Upgrades www.bloomberg.com
Mongolia hired banks for potentially its first dollar bond sale since being upgraded by rating firms last year as it seeks to tap robust global demand for riskier debt early in 2025.
The junk-rated sovereign is planning a deal with a five- and possible 10-year tenor, according to people with knowledge of the matter. If the government proceeds to price the debt, it would be its first in the US-dollar bond market in about 14 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Mongolia has become a rare speculative-grade rated sovereign issuer in emerging Asia in recent years as other past borrowers such as Pakistan have had to seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund. All the three major international credit rating firms have raised Mongolia’s credit scores since September, with Moody’s Ratings the latest to do so in November.
Moody’s cited an uptick in mineral revenues and a track record of effective debt management when it upgraded Mongolia’s credit assessment one notch to B2, five levels below investment grade.
The nation also plans to repurchase a $566 million bond due in April of next year and a $650 million note maturing in January 2028, according to the people familiar, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Both bonds are trading above their issue prices.
Average spreads on Asian high-yield dollar bonds are near their tightest in more than six years at 411 basis points, according to a Bloomberg index.
Still, the guage, which has returned 0.5% so far this year, is underperforming global peers as concerns about Chinese property developers flare up again and US President Donald Trump’s tariffs plans unsettle markets. The region’s notes returned 15% last year, in their best annual performance in 12 years, the data show.
Of 20 major Bloomberg fixed-income indexes emerging-market dollar bonds and global high-yield debt are the two best performing so far this year, returning 1.5% and 1.4% respectively, the data show. The bigger spread cushions on the notes give them greater room to absorb volatile moves in Treasuries.
Published Date:2025-02-11