Bolivia is preparing to issue a $500 million international bond, primarily as a statement about the strengthening of the country’s finances.
Luis Arce, Bolivia’s minister of the economy and public finance, is to announce the details of the country’s coming debt issuance at March’s IDB conference in Montevideo.
However, talking exclusively to Euromoney, he confirmed he is working with Latin American development bank Corporacíon Andina de Fomento to select two banks to lead the transaction and he hopes to have the bookrunners in place before the conference.
"I have the authorization from the Bolivian Assembly [to issue a] $500 million bond this year," says Arce.
The country has run a current account surplus for the past six years and Arce says the country doesn’t need the funds, which is why he is targeting a relatively small deal size. The primary motivation behind the trade is to demonstrate the country’s attractiveness to international investors.
"The main focus is to show Bolivia to the international capital markets," says Arce. "A lot of capital is coming to South America, especially Brazil, and we would like to take advantage of this to show the world that Bolivia can also attract this money."