Citibank and Deutsche Bank have signed a €130mn (US$173mn) five-year term loan facility with the Republic of Macedonia – the county’s first ever international loan.

The loan will be used for general budgetary purposes and trade finance activities, a spokesperson at Deutsche Bank tells GTR. The transaction yields a fixed interest rate and is backed with a €100mn guarantee from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

Citi and Deutsche acted as the mandated lead arrangers on the deal, which was also the first to be signed in the Balkan region under the World Bank’s policy-based guarantee programme.