As part of some successes recorded during the first half of 2017, the government of Ghana has raised GHS1.49 billion through sales from its five-year bond.
The five-year bond which was officially issued in January this year is reported to have been oversubscribed by 12.86% - with bids totaling GHS1.71 billion.
The government had initially issued the bond at a coupon rate of 8.75% but has now reissued it at 8.25 per cent – representing an improvement as well as interest charged on the maiden issuance.
The new rate still falls within the pricing guideline of 17.25 per cent to 19 per cent that was disclosed ahead of the July 28th 5-year bond sale.
The bond forms part of government’s effort to mobilize funds primarily from domestic sources for financing the nation’s capital and recurrent expenditures – particularly, the rising national debt.
To facilitate the process, the government through the Bank of Ghana had some commercial financial institutions in the country as Joint book runners including; Stanbic Bank, Strategic Africa Securities (SAS) and Barclays.
Furthermore, in an effort to provide opportunity for some foreign investors to participate: the reissued 5-year bond will be listed Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and expected to trade until its maturity by 2022.