Bank Exim issues bonds in Hong Kong

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia has issued 10-year Floating Rate Notes worth US$130 million in Hong Kong to support its lending for export activities.

"The bond agreement was signed in Hong Kong on Sept. 7 and is part of our efforts to get foreign exchange to support our lending in 1995-1996," a bank executive said yesterday.

He told The Jakarta Post that the bonds, each with a nominal value of $500,000, were sold at par. They carry interest coupons with an annual rate of 0.8 percent above the six-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for the first seven years and 0.60 percent above LIBOR in the following three years.

Bondholders have a put-option to cash their bonds at the end of the first seven years, while the bank has a call-option to buy back the bonds at the end of the first five years and at the end of the first eight years.

The bank has listed the bonds at a stock exchange in Luxemburg.

Daiwa Securities (HK) Ltd. managed the bond issuance along with JP Morgan Securities Asia Ltd., LTCB Asia Ltd., Nomura International HK and Sumitomo Finance Asia Ltd., while its co- managing companies were Daiwa Overseas Finance Ltd., Fuji International Finance (HK) Ltd., Goldman Sachs (Asia) Ltd., HSBC Markets, Merrill Lynch HK Securities Ltd., Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd., Paribas Capital Market, Sanwa International Finance Ltd., SBC Warburg, Tokai Asia Ltd., United Bank of Switzerland and Westdeutche Landesbank Girozentrale.

According an executive of Bank Ekspor Impor, the bank has issued such securities nine times since the government started controlling the inflow of offshore commercial loans in 1992.

"All of the loans were issued overseas in order to get lower interest rates," said the bank executive, who asked to remain anonymous.

He added that the bank's current outstanding loans are about $900 million. (kod)