(Bloomberg) -- Romania is selling $4 billion in its first international debt sale this year, after becoming the latest emerging-market issuer to see strong demand for its bond offerings. 

The nation has attracted a combined $15.5 billion of orders for 5-year and 10-year dollar-denominated bonds, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak about it. It’s set to sell $2 billion of each security.

The strong demand helped the Balkan nation narrow the spreads by 30 basis points compared to the initial price talk, to 195 basis points over Treasuries for the shorter-dated debt and 235 basis points for the longer dated notes, the person said. 

The planned sale comes after regional peers Poland, Hungary and Slovenia contributed to a record amount of debt raised by emerging-market countries in the first days of 2024, taking advantage of favorable financing conditions.

With a plan to trim this year’s budget shortfall to 5% of economic output from about 5.7% in 2023, Romania aims to raise as much as €9.5 billion from international markets this year. That volume aligns with the amount raised from foreign investors last year, which would make Romania one of the top borrowers in the region. 

The Finance Ministry in Bucharest has said it’s also planning to venture to new markets this year, including green and Samurai bonds to diversify its investor base. 

--With assistance from Olga Voitova.

(Updates with final spread, demand in second, third paragraph)

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