JOHANNESBURG/ACCRA – Ghana sold a $750m 10-year Eurobond on Thursday in its second foray into international bond markets, but paid a premium to investors wary of its fiscal and current account deficits. The West African producer of cocoa, gold and oil issued the bond at a yield of 8 per cent. The order book was $2.2b, around three times the issue size, finance minister Seth Terkper told Reuters.
JOHANNESBURG/ACCRA – Ghana sold a $750m 10-year Eurobond on Thursday in its second foray into international bond markets, but paid a premium to investors wary of its fiscal and current account deficits. The West African producer of cocoa, gold and oil issued the bond at a yield of 8 per cent. The order book was $2.2b, around three times the issue size, finance minister Seth Terkper told Reuters.It also bought back $250m of its outstanding 10-year issue due in 2017, Terkper said. Ghana is one of Africa’s brightest economic prospects due to its rapid growth rate and stable democracy and has also attracted foreign investors to its domestic bond market.The economy is set to grow by 8 per cent this year. The Eurobond yield stands at a premium to the 2017 instrument, currently trading at around 6 per cent, suggesting investors were unwilling to overlook the fiscal picture.Ghana is trying to contain a budget deficit that surged to 11.8 per cent of gross domestic product in 2012, up from 4 per cent in 2011, partly as a result of public wage increases.