Bolivia plans to issue up to $500 million in global bonds in the first half of the year in the Andean country's first international debt sale in more than 90 years, Economy Minister Luis Arce said on Friday. "Today Bolivia has the great opportunity to receive the capital that is looking for a place to land ... and (this way) speed the growth of the Bolivian economy," Arce said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Inter-American Development Bank gathering in Montevideo.
The new bond would be Bolivia's first foray into international financial markets since about 1920, he said. The coupon and maturity have not been defined, Arce said, adding that Bolivia is waiting for the right moment but has already hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs for the issue.
Emerging economies have taken advantage of a recent uptick in risk appetite to return to capital markets, with countries including Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey seeing strong demand for their issues so far this year. Arce would not be drawn on the interest rate Bolivia expected for the bond but said the Andean country was looking at the example of counterparts like Peru, which sold $500 million in dollar-dominated debt due in 2050 in January with a yield of 5.372 percent, and Colombia.
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