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Kenya Says On Course To Issue Eurobond In Fiscal 2013/14
Kenya's Cabinet Secretary of National Treasury (Finance Minister) Henry Rotich carries a briefcase containing the Government Budget for the 2013/14 fiscal year inside the parliament building in Nairobi, June 13, 2013. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Noor Khamis.
27/09/2013
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya plans to issue its debut Eurobond during the current financial year and it does not expect a significant effect on economic growth from the weekend shopping mall attack that left dozens dead, its finance minister said.
Kenya had said it would sell the sovereign bond, worth up to $2 billion, before the end of this calendar year but even before the attack claimed by Somali militant group al Shabaab, bankers had said they expected the issue to slip to early 2014.
They had said Kenya was a first-time borrower, meaning the process would take longer than for more experienced issuers. Plans for the country to sell an international bond have been delayed several times in the past.
Finance Minister Henry Rotich said in a statement that the east African nation's economic growth target for 2013 remained at 5.5-6 percent, adding that tourism was stable and it would not suffer "long lasting effects" from the attack.
"Market players are upbeat about the economy and investor confidence is buoyant," he said, citing stable foreign exchange and interest rates which he said meant the planned Eurobond sale "during the financial year remains on course".
Kenya's financial year ends in June.
September has been an active month for emerging sovereign debt issuance as borrowers rushed to launch ahead of an expected withdrawal of U.S. monetary stimulus that did not materialise.
Debutante Armenia was among sovereign borrowers this month, along with Russia and Romania, while African sovereigns Rwanda, Nigeria and Tanzania launched dollar bonds earlier this year.
Rotich also said Kenya's wholesale and retail businesses would be affected by the attack at the upscale Westgate shopping mall but that the damage would not be enough to slow the wider economy.
Analysts have also said Kenya is unlikely to see long-term investors pulling out as a result of the attack but said the tourism industry, a big source of revenues, could be hit.
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