The east German state of Saxony-Anhalt firmly established itself as the country's largest sub-sovereign borrower last week, when it returned to the international debt markets to raise a further €600m ($577m) through an issue first launched on March 8.

The 10-year offering, which now totals €1.6bn, is the largest bond ever issued by a German state and the first to be distributed internationally. Dealers say it is likely to pave the way for another state, Hessen, to tap the capital markets as early as this week.