Morocco issues first international bond loan

Morocco's finance and privatization minister, Fathallah Oualalou, will conduct starting Friday a roadshow in Bahrain, the UAE, France and the United Kingdom to promote the kingdom's first bond loan.

An official release said following Oualalou's tour and meetings with businessmen from the four countries, Morocco will launch on the international financial market its first bond loan, without a third party guarantee. The loan lead managers are French bank "BNP Parisbas" and "Merryll Lynch International."

The official release explains that resorting to the international financial market is a strategic choice that is not spurred by a need for financing the public treasury but by the "particularly propitious" conditions on the market and by the Kingdom's resolve to consolidate its international openness and modernity."

The choice is also motivated by the need to create a benchmark value and diversify sources to finance both the private and public sectors. The initiative is also meant to promote an active management of Morocco's public debt as subscriptions will be used to pay off most expensive debts.

The ministry also stresses that the move will not entail any aggravating effect on the country's liquidity.