LIMA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Peru sold Eurobonds worth 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) due 2030 on Tuesday to ensure financing for next year, its second issuance in the currency in four months as it seeks to diversify and extend the life of its debt, the government said.
The finance ministry said it received more than 130 offers from “high-level” creditors such as central banks before finishing the sale at mid-swaps plus 295 basis points with a 3.77 percent yield and 3.75 percent coupon.
IFR, a Reuters service, reported that the deal was expensive for Peru but satisfied its goal of drawing more buy-and-hold investors into its creditor base.
The finance ministry said the new bond would partially fund next year’s debt service and aimed to leave the next government, which will take office in late July, on solid financial footing.
Peru, rated A3/BBB+/BBB+, also secured $2.5 billion in new credit lines from the World Bank earlier this month that it said it would use only in the event of unexpected shocks.
Finance Minister Alonso Segura toured European cities last week ahead of its new issuance, Peru’s fifth bond sale in the past year and a half as the Andean country’s fiscal deficit has swollen at the end of decade-long mining bonanza.
Peru, the world’s third biggest copper and zinc producer, posted a fiscal deficit equal to 10 percent of gross domestic product in the fourth quarter.
Despite the copper price slump, surging production from new mines is driving an economic recovery from a sharp slowdown last year.
Reporting By Mitra Taj and Marco Aquino; Editing by Diane Craft
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