$ EB ZAGREB, 18 Dec (Hina) - An agreement on the first issue of Euro- domestic kuna bonds, amounting to 300 million kuna and launched in equal amounts on international and domestic markets, was signed in Zagreb on Wednesday.
ZAGR
$ EB
ZAGREB, 18 Dec (Hina) - An agreement on the first issue of Euro-
domestic kuna bonds, amounting to 300 million kuna and launched in
equal amounts on international and domestic markets, was signed in
Zagreb on Wednesday. #L#
The bonds were issued in denominations of 10,000 kuna (around
US $1,800) and can be purchased for 98.5% of their nominal value,
with the interest rate of 12.5% and maturity date of 18 December
1998.
The directors of the first issue of Euro-kuna bonds are
Zagrebacka banka, for the Croatian market, and Merrill Lynch
International from London for the European market.
At the beginning of the next year the bonds will be included
into quotation of stock markets in Zagreb and Luxembourg.
After the signing of the agreement, Croatian Premier Zlatko
Matesa stressed that 'the Republic of Croatia and its currency have
entered a group of 36 chosen ones who have managed to launch their
currency on the market of Euro-bonds'.
Matesa stressed that all this could not have been achieved,
had there been no adequate level of political and economic
stability. He added that Croatia would fulfill its obligations
concerning the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as a factor of
peace in the region.
Croatian government aims include macroeconomic development
based on sound foundations, a stable kuna, small budget deficit and
regular payment of debts, Matesa said, announcing low inflation in
1997.
Speaking about the first issue of Euro-kuna bonds, Finance
Minister Bozo Prka said that the aim of the issue was to 'give an
incentive to domestic savings and restore trust in the national
currency so that Croatia could be granted loans on the domestic
market and lessen its borrowing abroad'.
(hina) rm jn
181653 MET dec 96