Kenya is considering raising more than $1bn in its planned debut Eurobond sale that will take place by the end of this year, Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge said.
The government plans to use part of the proceeds to help repay a $600m syndicated loan that falls due in May, Thugge said in an interview in the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday.
Bloomberg News reports that the funds will also be used for infrastructure projects in the country, he said.
“We are considering raising more than $1bn because we intend to use part of the money to offset the syndicated loan,” he said. “We are still in the process of recruiting lead managers for the transaction. We want the disbursements definitely before the end of the year.”
Kenya, East Africa’s biggest economy, is planning its first sovereign debt sale to help plug a fiscal deficit and finance construction of railway and power-generation projects.
The offering follows similar plans by other African nations including Senegal and Ghana. Rwanda in April became the first East African country to sell a Eurobond, raising $400m.
Meanwhile, India’s S&P BSE Sensex rebounded from the lowest intraday level in almost a year as some traders closed bearish bets before derivatives contracts expire. Reliance Industries Limited, the owner of the world’s largest refining complex, gained 1.1 per cent.