The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 9 February raised 8.4 billion Kazakhstan tenge (KZT) (about $20 million) from the first gender bond issued in Kazakhstan.Proceeds of the bond will help finance the KZT38 billion Promoting Gender Equality in Housing Finance Project that aims to expand the lending operations of the Housing and Construction Savings Bank of Kazakhstan (Otbasy Bank) and promote affordable residential mortgage loans for women borrowers in largely rural areas. The ADB loan is the first external borrowing of Otbasy Bank and is guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan.
The bond pays a 10.15% semi-annual coupon and features a 10-year bullet maturity, redeeming in December 2030. The bond sets a new benchmark as the longest-maturity local currency bond issued by any multilateral development bank in Kazakhstan.
Auctioned and listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, the offering was oversubscribed and sold to domestic institutional investors.
