Government third bond oversubscribed

The third bond issue to fund infrastructure projects in Kenya was heavily oversubscribed. Announcing the results, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said it received bids worth Sh35.3 billion ($458 million) for the Sh14.5 billion of a new eight-year-infrastructure bond on offer. The bank sold bonds worth 16.3 billion at weighted average rate of 9.58 per cent.

The Government raised its borrowing in the 2009/10 fiscal year to fund spending designed to stimulate growth after a 2008 bloody post-election crisis, drought and the global downturn slashed growth to just 1.7 per cent from 7.1 per cent in 2007.