Morocco considers dollar bond issue
“It would be our first issue in dollars and give us the opportunity to diversify,” said El Hassan Eddez, deputy director, treasury and external finance at the ministry’s debt office.“If issued, it would be an important size, between $500 million and $1 billion,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of an Arab Monetary Fund conference, adding an issue could come in September or October. Morocco, the biggest recipient of European Union financial aid outside Europe, raised about 1 billion euros via its most recent international bond issue in 2010. Eddez said it was still unclear whether the North African country, which has managed to avoid some of the “Arab Spring” turmoil that has struck other countries, would proceed with a bond.Last month, the country’s parliament passed the 2012 budget, targetting a deficit below 5 per cent and imposing higher taxes on corporates as the government seeks to reduce wide social inequalities and tame protests over unemployment.Morocco’s current account deficit surged last year to the highest since the 1980s.ABU DHABI: Morocco is considering a potential dollar-denominated international bond of up to $1 billion in September or October, a senior finance and economy ministry official said on Wednesday.
Reuters
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