Slovenia successfully issued a 10-year government bond worth €1.75bn, maturing on March 12, 2036, becoming the first country to enter the capital markets in 2026, the finance ministry announced on January 5.

The transaction was carried out to finance state budget needs for 2026, in line with established practice, and took advantage of exceptionally strong investor demand.

The order book for the bond opened on January 5, 2026, at around 9:05 am, with an initial price target set at a spread of 45 basis points above the mid-interest rate swap (MS +45 bps).

Demand was robust from the outset and exceeded €6.4bn by 11:35 am, including €700mn from the joint lead managers, allowing the spread to be tightened to MS+40 bps.

As demand continued to grow, surpassing €7.2bn, the spread was further narrowed to MS+37 bps at 1:20 pm. The transaction closed at approximately 2:30 pm with final demand exceeding €10bn. Pricing was set at 5:22 pm, with a coupon of 3.275%, a yield to maturity of 3.312% and a price of 99.675%.

Under its 2026 Financing Programme, Slovenia may borrow up to €5.251bn this year. Public debt is estimated at 66.1% of GDP at end-2025, down from 66.6% a year earlier, with a further decline planned in 2026.

Ljubljana once again opted to turn to the markets at the very start of the year, a practice that has seen it rank among the earliest European sovereign borrowers for many years. It last tapped international markets on January 7, 2025, when it successfully issued a €1.0bn Eurobond with a 30-year maturity, due in April 2055.

The issue was arranged by Barclays, DZ BANK, HSBC, JP Morgan, OTP banka dd and Raiffeisen Bank International.

Investor interest was broad-based geographically, led by Germany, Austria and Switzerland with 27% of allocations, followed by the United Kingdom and Ireland at 25%.

France and the Benelux accounted for 15%, Southern Europe for 11%, the Nordic countries for 8%, Slovenia for 7%, Central and Eastern Europe for 5%, while other countries made up the remaining 2%.

By investor type, banks dominated the book with 43%, ahead of fund managers at 28%. Central banks and other official institutions accounted for 13%, insurance companies and pension funds for 10%, and venture capital managers for the remaining 6%.