May sell new Development Bonds in 2012: Central Bank

Reuters: Sri Lanka is likely to sell new development bonds to finance a series of infrastructure projects, the Central Bank said on Wednesday, a week after it raised $ 39 million through fresh debt.

Sri Lanka, this year, also plans to roll over $ 317 million worth two-year and three-year development bonds, which are opened for foreign investors and the money will also be used to revitalise the country’s war-ravaged infrastructure.

“We would opt to issue more after consulting the Finance Ministry, if there is a demand and the rate is at an acceptable level,” Central Bank’s Assistant Governor K.D. Ranasinghe told Reuters, declining to comment on how much the Government is likely to borrow.

The Central Bank is to roll over $ 176 million in two-year development bonds in June and $ 96 million in two-year and three-year bonds in September, the Government’s Public Debt Department data showed.

Sri Lanka will resell its debut $ 500 million, five-year sovereign bond maturing in October to convert it to a 10-year one, the island nation’s Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera said last week.

The Central Bank last week sold $ 84 million worth development bonds at an auction, which included the rollover of $ 45 million worth of development bonds, resulting in it raising $ 39 million.