NAIROBI, Feb. 17 — Kenya raised 98.6 billion shillings (about 867 million U.S. dollars) from the domestic market through a Treasury bond floated this month for budgetary support, a Central Bank official said on Wednesday.
David Luusa, the director of financial markets at the apex bank, said in a notice released in Nairobi that the 660 million dollars bond recorded a 176 percent subscription, an indication of increased appetite from investors, including foreigners.
The cash raised is the highest ever to be borrowed locally by the government.
The Central Bank floated the bond on Jan. 28, and it attracted bids worth 1.16 billion dollars, according to Luusa.
The bank accepted the 867 million dollars, which pushes domestic borrowing to the 36 billion dollars mark and total public debt to 73 billion dollars, according to the apex.
Kenya has accelerated borrowing from both domestic and external sources to fund various projects amid a decline in tax revenue following the COVID-19 disruption.
The East African nation plans to issue a 942 million dollars green bond this fiscal year for climate financing. (Xinhua)
