Slovenia’s finance ministry announced on January 4 that it has commissioned several international banks to manage a new 10-year Eurobond issue and increase a 30-year bond issue due in 2050.

The last time Slovenia placed a Eurobond issue was on October 13, 2020, with a total value of €1bn and maturity of 30 years, shortly after Moody's raised the country's credit rating,

“The new issue is expected to take place in the near future, depending on the situation on the financial markets,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The ministry mandated Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Slovenia’s Nova KBM to organize the issue of a new 10-year Eurobond with a maturity in 2031 and an additional issue of a 30-year Eurobond with a maturity in 2050.

Slovenia is among numerous countries from Central and Southeast Europe that have successfully tapped international markets with "corona bonds" as it faces lower tax revenues and higher spending needs during the pandemic.

After a sharp contraction in 2020, an economic recovery is projected for 2021 in Slovenia, and the economy is expected to return to its end-2019 level in 2022. Public finances are forecast to be in deficit in 2020, due to lost revenues and the measures taken to support the economy, but to improve over 2021 and 2022 together with the recovering economy, according to the European Commission.