Gov’t To Issue Another Bond

GOVERNMENT IS planning the sale of a GH¢400 million three-year bond in January 2013 in addition to a Eurobond sale.

Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Dufour, who revealed this recently in an interview with journalists in Accra, stated that the move was under consideration, among other options, to help repay the existing Eurobond adding that the sale might take place in 2013.

That would be the second Eurobond sale by Government after five years as one of the ways to finance development projects to support the country’s economic growth. A Eurobond is an international bond that is denominated in a currency not native to the country where it is issued. It can be categorised according to the currency in which it is issued.

Ghana sold its first Eurobond in sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa in 2007, and may issue a further $750 million of the debt to refinance the earlier notes, which mature in October 2017.

Government’s sale of GH¢500 million (US$264.6 million) worth of three-year bonds at an earlier auction this year culminated in its acceptance of more bids to the tune of GH¢1.4 billion or $747 million.

The bonds, which came with an average yield of 21 percent, were oversubscribed by 150 percent.

It was targeted at restructuring short-term debts and further strengthening the local currency. It was the third time this year that the current administration has floated bonds for cash.

Earnings from the bonds were also expected to help mop-up excess liquidity in the country’s economy particularly the Ghana cedi which struggled with major international currencies as result of the high demand for the dollar by local traders.

The cedi lost over a third of its value since the country began producing oil.

Prior to the auctioning, the Central Bank held auctions for three-year and five-year government bonds between February and August.