Banco Bci may return to the dollar market to sell bonds later this year or issue notes in Switzerland after pricing a benchmark-sized deal earlier this month, the Chilean bank’s head of funding and liquidity management told LatinFinance.

“We can see the market is open for solid names such as ours,” Asier Uriarte Farías said in an emailed response to questions.

He added that he expects this access to remain despite “the lingering uncertainty in the international market.”

While interest rates are still historically high, spreads over US Treasury spreads “are convenient for us,” Uriarte said. “The market sentiment towards solid names such as ours and Chilean banking in general is encouraging.”

Bci tapped the international market after a two-year absence on February 1 to raise $500 million in the sale of 8.75% perpetual additional tier 1 bonds in US dollars, becoming the first bank from Chile to issue notes with such characteristics in a public placement, according to Uriarte.

The lender also priced $10 million worth of 2029 notes at a fixed rate of 1.55% over the secured overnight financing rate in the international market on February 15 and raised $20 million in a two-part deal, split evenly between 1.3% 2028 and 1.53% 2029 notes, on February 16, according to securities filings.

Bci is eyeing potential opportunities for tapping new markets in Asia and Latin America in the coming years, as well as to deepen its presence in those it is already active in. The bank is also planning to issue more sustainable and social bonds in the near future for funding environmental, social and governance projects and finance small and medium enterprises, according to Uriarte.

“We continuously explore markets that allow us to broaden our investor base,” Uriarte said.

The bank is also evaluating issuing sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs), but is “waiting for an increase in the international investor consensus on key metrics that truly generate impact,” Uriarte added.

Bci most recently raised UF2.14 million ($80.9 million) with the sale of two lots of bonds in the local market.