Ghana seeks fresh Eurobond this yr of up to $500 mln -finmin

Ghana will seek to issue a fresh Eurobond of up to $500 million by year end if market conditions are right, Finance Minister Seth Terkper told a news conference on Friday.
The government launched a $1 billion Eurobond at a 10.75 percent coupon rate on Oct. 7, after having initially targeted a $1.5 billion bond at 9.5 percent.
"We still have an approval from parliament for $1.5 billion for 2015 so if the opportunity presents itself before the end of the year and since it's part of the budget that was approved we could still go to the market depending on conditions," he said.
"If the markets are not favourable we will look for alternative financing and that means that your financing mix changes for the 2016 budget," he added.
A slowdown in China and an expected rate rise by the U.S. Federal Reserve has caused turmoil in emerging debt markets and also squeezed Ghana, Terkper said.
In addition, Ghana has attracted higher debt rates as it struggles to control a fiscal crisis with the aid of an International Monetary Fund programme. Until recently, the country had one of the strongest economies in Africa.