NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya will issue two Eurobonds by June next year to raise funds to support the 2021/22 (July-June) budget in East Africa’s leading economy and to repay another sovereign bond maturing in 2024, Finance Minister Ukur Yatani said.
Yatani said in a statement to the International Monetary Fund released late on Wednesday that, depending on market conditions, Kenya planned to issue the first Eurobond by the end of this month, with proceeds supporting the 2021/22 budget.
“This financing was previously programmed for early 2022,” he said. It was not clear if the December issue was the same as one announced by the Treasury earlier this year, which was meant to raise 1 billion euros by the end of December.
Yatani did not immediately respond to a message from Reuters on Friday seeking clarification.
Yatani also said the government aimed to issue another Eurobond by the end of June, with proceeds to repay partly or in full another bond maturing in 2024.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has prioritised the construction of infrastructure such as roads and railways since he came to power in 2013, attracting some criticism over the huge borrowing undertaken by the government to fund the programmes.
In June, Kenya sold a $1 billion Eurobond that received orders just short of $6 billion.
Yatani said Kenya had secured between January and June $425 million in debt suspensions under the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), aimed at helping poor countries weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the period to December, it expected to secure $89 million out of an earlier estimate of $379 million.
“This amount is now projected to be lower … due to non-participation by some creditors,” he said.
(Reporting by George Obulutsa Editing by James Macharia Chege and Mark Potter)
