Govt ends fourth Eurobond road show

Top government officials led by Finance Minister Seth Tekper have ended talks with potential investors seeking to get them to patronize the country’s next Eurobond when issued.

[contextly_sidebar id=”C8OGLbr8VCdinmWK7qUTVgM1YfiyhImK”]The meeting which begun on September 22 and ended on September 30, 2015 saw the Minister of Finance Seth Tekper as well as the Governor of the Bank of Ghana Dr Henry Kofi Wampah met investors in London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and New York.

Citi Business News has gathered the delegation received positive feedback from investors during the meetings.

During the discussions investors were updated on Ghana’s significant progress towards fiscal consolidation and the continued support provided by the IMF, the World Bank Group and other development partners.

Yield on fourth Eurobond

Industry players have however cautioned this year’s Eurobond  will attract a higher yield than previous ones.

Last year Ghana’s rate for its third Eurobond was higher than the rate of 7.875 issued on the same figure the year before.

Last year’s USD1 billion bond had a twelve (12) year maturity, with a coupon at a rate of 8.125% and will mature in 2026.

The rate at the time was much higher than that of other African countries which also issued bonds that year.

Ivory Coast, which is the world’s largest cocoa producer, for example raised $750 million from its 10-year Eurobond bond sale at the time and paid less than 6 percent at 5.625%.

Ghana issued its first Eurobond, a 10-year Eurobond eight years ago at which she raised US$750million from investors at a coupon of 8.5 percent.

There are currently three Eurobonds outstanding, with maturity profiles of October 2017 for the first bond of US$531million; August 2023 for the second bond of US$1billion; and January 2026 for another US$1billion.

Parliament in July, 2015,  approved a request by government to raise an amount of US$1.5billion from the European Bond Market.

Proceeds from the bond will be used to support the 2015 budget as well as service the country’s growing debt.

Ghana’s total debt stock increased by GHc5 billion more, between May and June 2015.

According to figures from the Bank of Ghana, the country’s total debt stock now stands at GHc94.5 billion, representing 70.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) report after reviewing Ghana’s performance under the Extended Credit Facility program said, Ghana’s total public debt now exceeds pre-HIPC levels.

The IMF is projecting that Ghana will end the year 2015 with a 75% debt-to-GDP ratio.

Ghana’s total public debt in the first half of the year has increased consistently by about GHc15.1 billion, growing from GHc79.4 billion in January, to GHc94.5 billion in June.

Cedi Stabilization

Proceeds from the Eurobond together with that of the 1.8 billion dollar cocoa syndicated loan is expected to boost the performance of the cedi which has experienced some level of stability against major trading foreign currencies for some weeks now.

The 1.8 billion dollar cocoa syndicated loan cash is expected to hit the accounts of the Bank of Ghana next week.

It still remains unclear however the exact date when Ghana’s fourth Eurobond will be issued.

There has been mixed projections about the fate of the cedi against the major foreign currencies.

The cedi this year alone has depreciated in excess of 25% pushing the central bank to pump millions of dollars daily depending on the demand to halt the free fall of the cedi.

Meanwhile government says it will continue to consider a USD bond issue, subject to market conditions, as stated in the original announcement.

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By:  Vivian Kai Lokko/citifmonline.com/Ghana