Kenya plans to raise Ksh50 billion ($377 million) by selling additional infrastructure bonds, a report by Bloomberg Canada indicated.
According to Bloomberg, the plan which was hatched by the Central Bank will see two infrastructure bonds refloated.
The two bonds which are tax-exempt had been sold last year and are expected to resurface in the markets.
Based on information gathered from insiders who spoke to Bloomberg, the two infrastructure will be announced in a few days most likely in August.
According to sources who confided with the Publication, "the government will reopen two tax-free securities it sold last year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public yet," stated Bloomberg.
Further Bloomberg predicted a possible change in the terms of the bond during floatation.
However, an attempt by the Publication to contact the bank saw CBK stating that any information on bonds is publicised without any further input on the proposal.
The bonds if floated are expected to boost Kenyan’s currency which has been on a slump lately.
So far the Kenyan shilling has been rated as one of the world’s worst-performing currencies so far this month, after weakening 2.5 per cent due to investor concerns about the impact of anti-government protests that have continued for the past six weeks.
According to financial experts, Kenya’s infrastructure bonds attract a chunk of investors owing to their tax-exempt nature.
Incidentally, this new information comes days after Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo revealed that Ksh700 billion would be borrowed to cater for the deficit in the 2024/2025 budget.
According to the PS, Ksh356.4 billion would be borrowed from the external market while Ksh399.9 billion will be from the domestic market through government securities (Treasury Bills and Bonds).
