Ghana begins roadshow this week ahead of Eurobond sale
Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's Finance minister and other officials will meet global investors beginning this week to market the government's plans to issue up to US$3 billion in Eurobonds, mainly to support the budget, officials and market sources told PANA on Wednesday.
The roadshow, which is being organised by Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, includes fixed income investor meetings in New York and London,, commencing on March 14, said the sources.
"Subject to market conditions, the government plans to issue fixed rate benchmark bonds with expected long-dated tenor," a source close to the plans said. If successful, the bond will be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The West African country also plans to buy back previous bonds due 2023 and 2030 from eligible holders, another source told PANA.
Ghana, which exports cocoa, gold and oil, is set to exit a US$918 million aid programme with the International Monetary Fund in April. The deal was signed in 2015 to repair the economy, then dogged by a high budget deficit and public debt.
The government, led by President Nana Akufo-Addo, who assumed office in January 2017, successfully raised US$2 billion in 10-year and 30-year Eurobonds last year. The 10-year bonds priced at 7.625 percent whilst it paid 8.627 percent for the 30-year notes.
The country's fiscal situation has improved but the local currency has been under pressure this year, touching record lows and analysts expect the central bank to use inflows from the Eurobonds to shore it up.
Consumer inflation rose marginally to 9.2 percent in February, compared to 9.0 percent the month before, the statistics office said on Wednesday.
The government is currently in talks with Standard Chartered Bank and Standard Bank Group Limited for a "short-term" loan of US$750 million and will likely repay with proceeds of the Eurobond, parliamentary sources told PANA.
-0- PANA KK/AR 13Mar2019
