Croatia: bonds, indices, credit ratings

The Croatian debt securities market includes government bonds, bonds with government guarantee, corporate bonds and municipal bonds as long-term securities and treasury bills of the Ministry of Finance as well as commercial papers of companies as short-term securities. Croatian eurobonds are also traded in the domestic market.

Government bonds dominate Croatian bond market. The bond market is moving slowly towards a more balanced mix of public sector, quasi-government and private sector bonds. The main debt issuers in Croatia are the state itself, the state funds and agencies, and since 2002 for the first time - corporations.

Since the beginning of the transition process in the Republic of Croatia, three types of long-term government bonds have been issued in the domestic capital market:
a. bonds issued in the international capital market i.e. bonds issued in the foreign markets (Samurai bonds, denominated in JPY) and bonds issued in the euromarket (Eurobonds denominated in EUR, USD, ESP)
b. marketable bonds issued on domestic capital market
c. non-marketable bonds issued on domestic capital market for the purpose of restructuring the economy (“Big bonds”).