Ghana to sell seven-year domestic bond next week

Ghana will sell a seven-year domestic bond next week with an indicated size of 750 million cedis ($168 million), sources close to the transaction said on Friday, according to Reuters.

Order books will be opened on Wednesday with final pricing on Thursday and settlement on April 16, joint book-builder Barclays Bank Ghana said. Other arrangers are local lenders Databank, Fidelity, Stanbic bank and financial house ICSecurities.

Non-resident Ghanaians will be allowed to purchase the bonds.

The government plans to borrow a total 11.32 billion cedis ($2.54 bln) locally during the second quarter of this year, of which 8.74 billion cedis will be used to roll over maturing debt, finance ministry data shows.

The government has also obtained parliamentary approval to issue up to $2.5 billion of sovereign debt, including a $1 billion Eurobond, by the end of this month.

The West African country is in the final year of a $918 million credit deal with the International Monetary Fund aimed at restoring the public finances, including lowering public debt which hit 69.8 percent of gross domestic product in December.