Gov’t Mulls Second Eurobond As Ksh.300B Repayment Deadline Nears
The National Treasury has moved to reassure investors and the country that it will not default on its inaugural Eurobond which falls due in June.
According to National Treasury Principal Secretary Dr. Chris Kiptoo, the government is exploring all its options to ensure that Kenya’s credit rating in the international market remains intact and attractive.
As June 1 draws close, the Treasury is running out of time to get its act together, for what is expected to be a defining moment for the country’s economy.
According to economic analysts, the Eurobond repayment will either make or break Kenya’s already struggling economy.
It is this pressure that seems to have pushed the National Treasury into considering a re-entry into the Eurobond market to ease the pressure of a bullet repayment that could see the country pay more than Ksh.300 billion for its inaugural issuance.
“We will settle the Eurobond…for us to settle the Eurobond, we went out for tenders to get lead joint managers and a legal counsel to guide us on how to deal with the matters. We now have lead counsels working with our teams. I think today they are completing the due diligence and are completing documentation in readiness for going to market if they determine that it is the right timing and there is an appetite for us to go to the markets,” said Dr. Kiptoo.
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Dr. Kiptoo’s sentiments come at a when the country has seen an increase in concessional financing from the Bretton Wood Institution, an indication of Kenya’s effort to mop up foreign currency to avoid pilling more pressure on the shillings which continues to weaken against major global currencies.
“We have made efforts that’s why we got exceptional finance under DPO with the World Bank, and we have made efforts to ensure that we raise sufficient resources to deal with the Eurobond. So I want to tell Kenyans that, Yes, it is a big payment, bullet payment, but we think that we should be focusing beyond June,” he noted.
The PS however remained mum on the expected value of the issuance should Kenya decide to go back to the market and whether it would be sufficient to fully repay the inaugural issuance.
Should Kenya opt to go back to the market it will be the second sub-Saharan country to seek financing in the global market this year just days after Ivory Coast raised USD 2.6 billion through the issuance of two bonds that are expected to mature in the next 9 and 13 years respectively.
Gov’t Mulls Second Eurobond As Ksh.300B Repayment Deadline Nears