Jordan will sell US-guaranteed Eurobonds on the international debt market on October 28, finance minister Umayya Toukan was cited as saying by the state news agency Petra. The minister, who did not disclose the bonds’ size, also said that Jordan will sell another USD 750mn Eurobonds in 2014. Earlier reports said the USA will provide loan guarantees for Jordan’s planned USD 1.25bn seven-year Eurobond according to a mutual agreement signed in Amman in August 2013.
The nearing sovereign debt issuance is part of the government's effort to diversify financing resources and reduce dependency on increasingly expensive domestic borrowing. Rising local debt issuance has also cut the private-sector's performance and ability to borrow cheap money from local banks.
Jordan originally planned to issue the Eurobonds in mid-October. Toukan said the delay was due to the budget shutdown of the US government early this month after the Congress rejected a bill to increase the US debt ceiling.
Toukan also said that the IMF will allocate USD 258mn for Jordan after its executive board agreed last week to transfer the third tranche of the USD 2.06bn three-year Stand-By Arrangement with Jordan.
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