Morocco issues 3-bln-USD bonds

Rabat - Morocco issued 3-billion-U.S. dollars bonds in the international financial market, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on Wednesday in a statement. The triple-tranche bond sold by the Moroccan government has maturities of seven, 12 and 30 years, with interest rates respectively of 2.4 percent, 3 percent and 4 percent. According to the statement, the amounts raised were 750 million dollars, 1 billion dollars and 1.25 billion dollars from each tranche respectively.

The issue of the triple-tranche bond marked Morocco's return to the dollar bonds after an absence of seven years, the statement said, adding that the sale has exceeded 13 billion dollars and the issue was oversubscribed more than four times. According to the official data, Morocco's economy is expected to contract by 6.3 percent in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The government debt will soar to 75.3 percent of GDP from 65 percent in 2019, and the deficit expected to widen to 7.8 percent of GDP from 4.1 percent last year.