Kenya plans another early buyback of its eurobonds this year as part of plans to smooth out the nation’s debt-repayment profile, the World Bank said.
The East African nation will settle $1 billion of its eurobonds ahead of maturity, bringing the total repurchases this year to $2.5 billion, the Washington-based lender said in a report.
This planned buyback is aimed at “smoothing the amortization profile as was done for the recent issuance which was smoothed over three years,” it said in a report published last week after approving $1.2 billion of budget financing for Kenya.
Kenya in February issued a $1.5 billion eurobond and spent the proceeds on partially buying back 2024 notes due in June, easing the nation’s liquidity constraints at the time. It issued the new securities at 9.75% to refinance bonds sold at 6.875% 10 years ago.
Kenya plans “proactive liability management by focusing on concessional financing to lower average interest costs and reduce medium-term amortization pressures, especially between 2028 and 2031 to avoid future liquidity crunches,” the World Bank report said.
It also plans to issue debt swaps and sustainability-linked bonds as part of managing its debt, the lender said.
“It’s premature to talk about it now,” said Haron Sirima, the head of debt management at the National Treasury, who declined to say which maturity is up for repurchase. “That will depend on market conditions — it’s for liability management.”
–Norvanreports
