Kazakhstan to borrow $1 billion

Kazakhstan plans to borrow around $1 billion at foreign markets in 2013, Kazakhstan Today reports citing Reuters. Speaking at the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Kazakhstan Finance Minister Bolat Zhamishev invited international banks to submit their offers for becoming the loan’s lead manager. “We are applying to foreign markets not for the sake of money but for a loan that is to become a benchmark presenting us at this market,” the Minister said. According to Zhamishev, the new issue of Eurobonds will be aimed at creating a benchmark for corporate borrowers. However, he did not comment on the profitability that Kazakhstan considers acceptable.