Trinidad issues international bond

The Trinidad & Tobago government raised US$1 billion in the United States on Thursday, marking its first international bond issue in three years.

A statement from the Ministry of Finance said the bond was more than three times, "with US$3.5 billion in orders received from over 250 international investors".

It said as a result, Trinidad was able "to comfortably raise the targeted one billion US dollars, with prospects for raising additional amounts ...".

"The original price for the bond was set at 4.625 per cent. However, the significant interest and demand from international investors, buttressed by strong demand from the local investor community, allowed the final price of the bond to be tightened to 4.5 per cent," the finance ministry said.

It touted the lower coupon as "reflective of the confidence of investors in the Government's management of the economy and the medium-term fiscal and monetary outlook. The 4.5 per cent interest cost of the bond compares very favourably with recent government bond issues", the ministry said.

The bond issue on Thursday followed a two-day roadshow that touched on the financial centres of Los Angeles, London, Boston, and New York, led by T&T Finance Minister Colm Imbert. The minister was accompanied by Finance Secretary Joel Jack and former central bank governor Ewart Williams.

"Investors reacted very favourably to the presentations made by the delegation. The roadshow, although gruelling and physically demanding,

was well worth the effort," the ministry said.

The joint lead managers for the bond issue were Deutsche Bank and First Citizens Bank.

The proceeds of the bond will finance Trinidad's development programmes in this fiscal year as well as 2017.

- CMC