TOKYO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Turkey is likely to issue Samurai bonds worth around 150 billion yen ($1.80 billion) as early as December, the head of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation said on Friday.
The amount would match the largest-ever issue with a guarantee from JBIC, the international arm of state-owned bank Japan Finance Corp.
Hiroshi Watanabe, president and chief executive of JBIC, told reporters that the Turkish plan to print yen-denominated bonds, its first such issuance in a decade, would help the country diversify its funding sources.
"I was told within this year it must be done," Watanabe said. "The Turkish government is going for a similar size to that borrowed by Mexico."
Mexico has issued Samurai bonds worth 150 billion yen twice in the past year.
A JBIC official later said the amount and the timing of issuance were not yet finalised.
The Turkish Treasury said in April it was in talks with JBIC on re-entering the Samurai market. ($1=83.58 Yen) (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Joseph Radford)