Govt likely to begin $1.5 billion Eurobond roadshow in September

Joy Business sources say Government is likely to begin its roadshow for the country’s fourth Eurobond from September 12.

The exercise will be led by the Finance Minister Seth Terkper, top officials from both the ministry and the central bank as well as some investment bankers.

The team is expected to engage some banks and institutional investors in London, Germany and the US.

The roadshow is expected to end with government securing commitment from investors to lend some $1.5 billion to government to finance projects outlined in the 2015 budget and pay off debts that are maturing.

Joy Business also gathers that Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays and Deutshe Bank will act as transaction advisers for the bonds issue.

There are however fears that plans by the US government to stop its quantitative easing could affect the fortunes of the bond. The Finance Minister however assured firm measures have been put in place to lessen any negative impact of the US government’s plans on the Eurobond.

Meanwhile, government is considering a review of its revenue targets from crude oil exports due to declining prices of the commodity on the world market.

Declining crude prices have forced government to cut the amount of money it is hoping to get from the sector, to almost by more than half (from 4.2 billion Ghana cedis to 2 billion Ghana cedis) when price of a barrel of crude was selling at $57.

However with prices falling further to around 40 dollars, there are concerns that government’s revenue would worsen.

Speaking on Business Trends Wednesday, Mr. Terkper, said government monitoring development would to respond accordingly in due course.

“Either we respond when Parliament reconvenes or if the prices recover somewhat,” he said.