FRIDAY, 10.30AM
THE Reserve Bank, in its drive to boost reserves ahead of its July 1 lifting of exchange controls, has acquired yet another foreign credline, this time a $1,5-billion revolving credit facility with a group of international banks.
“The Reserve Bank is confident that, taking account of the current level of the official foreign reserves and the total of utilised foreign credit facilities available to the Bank, any additional demands for foreign currency that may arise from the further relaxation of exzchange controls and not covered by a continued inflow of foreign capital, will be met,” the Bank said in a statement.
The three-year credit facility, arranged by 12 international banks, is priced 30 basis points above the benchmark London Interbank Offered Rate. Co-arrangers and lead managers will be appointed later this month.
At the end of May, total credit facilities available to the bank was equivalent to R18,5-million, of which about R1,8-billion had been used.
The new credit announcement was made shortly after details were released of the government’s second, highly successful, $500-million Yankee bond issue.