Feb 2017 Financial News

Govt bond oversubscribed

Feb 15, 2017

The auction by the Government of T&T for a $1 billion bond was oversubscribed, with the total bids received amounting to $1.41 billion, according to a notice on the Central Bank’s website yesterday.

The bond, which was issued on Tuesday, is for eight years and has an annual, fixed-rate coupon of 4.1 per cent.

The information memorandum issued by the Central Bank on the bond stated that it “is intended to assist in financing the government’s recurrent expenditure,” meaning that the government is borrowing money in order to meet its monthly commitments of wages and transfers and subsidies.

For the 2017 fiscal year, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert envisaged a fiscal deficit of $6 billion, with total expenditure of $53.4 billion and total revenue of $47.4 billion.

The revenue figure anticipates that the government would collect $1.35 billion in new tax measures and $9.69 billion from one-off capital revenues—a total of $11.04 billion.

The eight-year bond is the second to be issued by the Government for the 2017 fiscal year. The first bond issue for the fiscal year took place on December 19, 2016 and was a $1 billion, six-year bond with a coupon rate of $3.8 per cent.

The information memorandum also stated: “The Government is also mindful of its role in the development of the local capital market and, in particular, the development of the Government Bond market. To this end, it continues to provide securities that will cater to the needs of all investors.”

On Tuesday, the Central Bank said that the bond was allotted at par, or a clearing price of $100.00 per $100.00 face value, providing investors with a yield to maturity of 4.10 per cent.

Successful competitive bidders, as well as non-competitive bidders, were be required to pay the clearing price for the bond.

Source:
Trinidad Guardian
Wednesday February 15, 2017

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2017-02-15/govt-bond-oversubscribed