Serbia to borrow EUR 1.15 billion in first quarter by selling bonds

The Ministry of Finance has published an auction plan for the first three months of 2026, according to which the state plans to raise a total of 111.6 billion dinars and EUR 200 million, which at the current average exchange rate of around 117 dinars is close to EUR 1.15 billion, Nedeljnik.rs reports.

This amount represents a significant share of the annual limit, as the state intends to use 42.2% of the planned borrowing on the domestic capital market in the first quarter. The strategy for the beginning of the year relies on the reopening of old dinar issues and the placement of one new long-term issue in euros. Within the Public Debt Administration's auction schedule for the first quarter of 2026, all four planned sales in domestic currency represent a continuation of previous borrowing.

The most valuable auction of 50 billion dinars is scheduled for January 8, when five-year government bonds with a coupon rate of 4.5% and a maturity date of July 30, 2030, will be offered. The same type of securities will be offered on February 3 in the amount of 30 billion, as well as on March 10 for an additional 20 billion dinars. In addition to the five-year instruments, ten-and-a-half-year government bonds will be reopened in January in the amount of 11.58 billion dinars.

The total dinar debt of 111.6 billion dinars makes up 16.6% of the total annual plan for all government bonds, which according to the Budget Law amounts to 672 billion dinars for bonds to be issued on domestic and foreign markets.

Unlike dinar auctions, the planned entry into the foreign currency debt market brings a new security with a long maturity. According to the calendar, the only auction of government securities denominated in euros for the first quarter of 2026 will be held on February 12.

On that occasion, the state will offer investors fifteen-year government bonds (maturity date February 18, 2041), in the planned amount of EUR 200 million. When these plans are compared with the budget, it is noticeable that the state does not plan to enter the international financial market in the first quarter, so the share of Eurobonds in that period is zero.

Although the budget allows international borrowing of up to 352 billion dinars, the focus is currently exclusively on domestic sources. With a total of 135 billion dinars of debt planned on the domestic market, Serbia will exhaust a fifth of the total annual space for borrowing through bonds in all markets in the first quarter.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

sale of bonds