The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the National Bank of Georgia recently issued the first ever bond by an international institution in the Georgian lari.

The two-year bond was marked at a value of approximately $28.6 million and will be jointly managed by JSC BG Capital and TBC Bank. JSC BG Capital is the brokerage subsidiary of Bank of Georgia, Georgia Today reports.

The bond is meant to strengthen the country's capital markets and boost the currency.

"This is a very significant step for the Georgian local capital market," Bruno Balvanera, the EBRD's director for the Caucasus, Moldova and Belarus, said, according to Georgia Today. "It brings a new instrument for investors and, at the same time, allows the EBRD to diversify its sources of lari and to continue lending to companies in need of long-term financing in local currency."

Giorgi Kadagidze, the governor of the NGB, called the day historic. The bond recognizes the consistent development of the Georgian financial sphere.

Nikoloz Gamkrelidze, the deputy CEO of finance at Bank of Georgia, said the bonds will serve as a great instrument to support the short-term liquidity of the bank.

"We're eager to sell the bonds as well as to consolidate them onto the bank's balance sheet," Gamkrelidze said, according to Georgia Today.

The issuance of the bond is part of the EBRD's Local Currency and Capital Markets Development Initiative, which was launched in May 2010.