EIB

The public sector debt market has had a superb start to 2020, breaking records right and left in defiance of geopolitical tensions that, in previous years, would have scuppered the market as it left the dock, writes Lewis McLellan.

A pair of supranationals opened the Maple market with sustainability bonds this week. The Canadian green market is “going through a growth phase” as more and more domestic investors show interest in the product, according to bankers.

The European Investment Bank and World Bank kept the strong momentum flowing in the euro public sector bond market on Thursday, hitting the sweet spot with 10 and seven year benchmarks, respectively.

The first Kangaroo deals of 2020 from SSAs started trickling through this week, after ANZ blew the doors off the Australian dollar market with a A$3.5bn ($2.4bn) self-led domestic deal on Tuesday.

KfW, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and, in the medium-term note (MTN) market, a German region and a Finnish agency have kicked off the Norwegian krone market for SSAs. Bankers are hoping to extend krone’s impressive form from last year into 2020.

The European Investment Bank is showing no signs of fatigue despite a gruelling start to the year. The supranational mandated banks on Tuesday for a five year Sonia floating rate note — its third syndicated deal of 2020.

Some of the SSA market's biggest names are already out for chunky dollar benchmarks, getting off the mark quickly in spite of some sharp moves in swap spreads. Most deals have gone well, but not everything has been a smooth ride.

The pipeline is starting to fill in the public sector bond market with the European Investment Bank and Kommunalbanken set to bring dollar deals and KfW preparing its first euro benchmark of the year. More deals — including the first sovereign syndication of the year— are set to follow this week.

The European Investment Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank amassed strong demand from investors to kick off their funding programmes for the year on Friday, with the former receiving the biggest ever order book in the sterling supranational and agency bond market, according to the leads.

The Federal State of Lower Saxony sold the first euro public sector benchmark of 2020 with a well received 10 year deal on Thursday. Meanwhile, the European Investment Bank is keeping to tradition of beginning its benchmark funding for the year in sterling.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) has announced a larger than expected borrowing programme for 2020, following the decision to roll over its bill proceeds into its bond funding. The European Investment Bank (EIB) also has a higher target for next year.

The European Investment Bank has announced a bigger borrowing requirement for 2020, as its redemptions are set to rise in the year ahead.