The Ministry of Finance's Accountant General Rony Hizkiyahu completed raising $3 billion in Israeli government US dollar bonds in London yesterday. The bonds were issued for two repayment periods: a $1 billion 10-year bond at an annual repayment interest rate of 2.5% and a $2 billion 30-year bond with a 3.375% annual interest rate.
Prior to the issue of the bonds, staff from the Accountant General's office held meetings with foreign investors in London and Boston. The bonds were oversubscribed with demand reaching $20 billion, 6.8 times the amount being raised.
Investors included major banks, pension funds, insurance companies and institutions which already hold long-term Israeli government bonds. The bonds were purchased by 400 investors from 40 countries.
This was the State of Israel's 13th series of government bonds and was in accordance with the Accountant General's program to diversify the financing channels of government debt, expand the investor base, and build a better relative mix of foreign currencies in global markets. The most recent Israeli government dollar bond issue took place in January 2018.
Hizkiyahu said, "The successful issue of the bond represents a vote of confidence by the world's large investors in the Israeli economy and indicates major demand for the Israeli government's bonds. The amount of the bond and the low cost achieved will be an important instrument in financing government activities in the coming year and demonstrates more than anything else the strong base that the State of Israel has in global financial markets."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 9, 2020
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020