January
7, 2004
Venezuela sold 1billion 30-year
bonds
(Bloomberg) - "Venezuela sold 30-year
bonds for the first time since 1997, joining Turkey,
Mexico and other emerging- market countries in
borrowing on overseas markets since the start
of the year to take advantage of tumbling yields.
Venezuela's dollar-denominated bonds were priced
at $929.76 per $1,000 face amount to yield 5.03
percentage points over Treasury bonds, or about
10.13 percent, the Finance Ministry said in a
statement. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. managed
the $1 billion bond sale (…)
The countries are raising funds on international
markets as quickening global economic growth and
improved credit ratings drive down yields for
emerging-market borrowers. The premium emerging-market
bonds pay above U.S. Treasuries narrowed to 3.8
percentage points from 7.65 percentage points
at the end of 2002.
(…) Venezuela is borrowing after its most-traded
bond due 2027 climbed to a six-year high of 94.55
cents on the dollar, cutting the yield to about
9.8 percent, according to J.P. Morgan. The yield
has fallen from 16.2 percent in January 2002 as
oil prices have gained. Venezuela is the world's
fifth- largest oil supplier (…)
'Given the recent inflows and the strength of
oil prices there is likely to be solid demand,'
said Mohamed El-Erian, who manages $12 billion
of emerging market debt at Pacific Investment
Management Co. in Newport Beach, California".
