PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The Trinidad and Tobago Government says it is seeking to raise half a billion dollars (One TT dollar =US$0.16 cents) to assist in financing its recurrent expenditure.

A statement issued on the website of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT), which has been appointed “sole and exclusive agent for the raising and management” of the six-year bond, said it “is the first Central Government bond issue for the fiscal year 2016/17”.

The bond, with a coupon rate of 3.80 per cent per annum, will be issued through the automated auction system operated by the central bank with a single-price auction system being used, “and, as far as possible, applicants will be allotted bonds to the fullest extent of their applications”.

The CBTT said that the Keith Rowley Government is “mindful of its role in the development of the local capital market and, in particular, the development of the Government bond market.

“To this end, it continues to provide securities that will cater to the needs of all investors. These bonds are eligible for inclusion in the statutory fund of insurance companies and will be considered as assets in and originating in Trinidad and Tobago within the meaning….of the Insurance Act.”

“The debt management objectives of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago are to minimise, over the longterm the cost of meeting its financing needs while containing its exposure to risk; to facilitate the development of a well-functioning domestic capital market, with the creation and maintenance of a local interest rate yield curve; and to ensure that debt management policy is consistent with the objectives of monetary policy, fiscal policy, and other macroeconomic policies.”

The CBTT said that interest is payable semi-annually on December 19 and June 19, and that interest will accrue from December 19, 2016. The first payment will be made on June 19, 2017.