RI sells Rp1.56t of treasury bonds

RI sells Rp1.56t of treasury bonds

JAKARTA: The Indonesian government sold Rp 1.56 trillion (US$148.6 million) worth of Treasury bonds today to help fund the budget deficit, the ministry of finance said.

The bonds, maturing on July 15, 2018, were priced to yield 15.97 percent, Mulia Nasution, director general for treasury at the ministry, said.

The ministry plans to raise Rp 43.3 trillion by selling domestic and global bonds this year, according to 2005 budget estimates.

The government will choose from six overseas banks, including Credit Suisse First Boston and HSBC Holdings Inc., to underwrite a sale of as much as $1 billion of bonds, Nasution said.

The government's 9.5 percent Treasury bonds due June 2015, a benchmark for corporate debt, was bid to yield 13.97 percent, according to prices from PT Bank Central Asia in Jakarta as of 2:33 p.m. The bonds yielded 10.12 percent when they were sold on Jan. 18. -- Bloomberg