The government has received three bids from prospective financial advisers to put in place a structure for floating a $1-billion Eurobond, a report in the local media said on Saturday.
According to the report, Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank submitted their technical and financial offers in response to an advertisement placed by the Ministry of Finance. The bids would be technically evaluated early next week. Citibank and Deutsche Bank were also financial advisers for the last two bond offers.
The country is expected to raise at least $1 billion through the upcoming Eurobond offer, however, officials believe the actual size will depend on the government’s external financing needs.
Factors like realisation of privatisation proceeds and disbursement of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) by the United States will determine the actual size of the bond.
The government is estimated to receive $1.5 billion in CSF in the current fiscal year 2015-16, of which it got $337 million in the first month.
The bond issue will reflect whether the claim that the country’s macroeconomic indicators have improved, which is also recognised by international financial institutions, is true.
