Kenya seeks proposals for issuance of $2.5bn Eurobond - source

Kenya is talking to lenders about a plan to issue a $2.5 billion Eurobond denominated either in euros or dollars, a banking source said on Wednesday.

In the government’s 2018/19 (July-June) budget approved by Parliament in September, Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich set a net external financing target of Ksh287 billion ($2.83 billion) to partly cover the deficit.

“They want to assess whether it would be cheaper to borrow in euros or dollars. A number of banks submitted their interest last week, their technical capabilities,” the source told Reuters.

There has been an increase in government borrowing since President Uhuru Kenyatta came to power in 2013 - a rise that has angered some opposition politicians who say it is saddling future generations with debt.