{"id":145073,"date":"2015-05-24T02:54:57","date_gmt":"2015-05-23T21:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=145073"},"modified":"2015-05-24T02:57:51","modified_gmt":"2015-05-23T21:27:51","slug":"wikileaks-rajapaksas-bond-issue-raises-500-million-despite-unp-efforts-to-block-the-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-rajapaksas-bond-issue-raises-500-million-despite-unp-efforts-to-block-the-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Rajapaksa’s Bond Issue Raises $500 Million Despite UNP Efforts To Block The Sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

International investors, 40% of them American, purchased all $500 million of Sri Lanka’s first-ever sovereign bond issue, despite domestic opposition efforts to block the sale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka’s debut sovereign bond issue raises $500 million despite domestic criticism, the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/p>\n

\"MR<\/a>The Colombo Telegraph<\/em> found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks<\/span><\/a> database. The unclassified cable discusesSri Lanka’s debut sovereign bond issue. The cable was written by the Ambassador Robert O. Blake<\/span><\/a> on November 01, 2007.<\/p>\n

The ambassador wrote; “International investors, 40% of them American, purchased all $500 million of Sri Lanka’s first-ever sovereign bond issue, despite domestic opposition efforts to block the sale. The government offered 8.25% coupon bonds with a five-year maturity, and received orders from investment bankers in Asia, Europe, and the United States totaling about triple the quantity of bonds for sale. The government cited the strong investor interest as an endorsement of Sri Lanka’s economic stability. However, it appears the government chose to set the bond duration to five years because it feared insufficient investor interest in ten-year bonds due to Sri Lanka’s instability. As expected, the opposition United National Party’s threat that a future UNP government would not honor the bonds appeared to have little impact on investor appetite for the bonds.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Nevertheless, the opposition continues to question the government’s stated intent to use the bond proceeds entirely to finance infrastructure investment. Central Bank Governor Cabraal assured the Ambassador that the government would indeed use the money for infrastructure. The Rajapaksa government is prone to fiscal irresponsibility, so the opposition’s doubts may be justified. On the other hand, the transparency that international investors require to maintain confidence in Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt may serve as an effective incentive for fiscal discipline.” Blake further said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ambassador Blake wrote; “The opposition United National Party’s threat (ref A) that a future UNP government would not honor the bonds appeared to have little impact on investor appetite for the bonds. Following the sale, the UNP and other critics continued to charge in the media that the bond issue was both imprudent and illegal. They doubted that the government would use the proceeds of the bond to finance infrastructure investment. They claimed that the government could easily have obtained additional concessionary loans from multilateral development banks for infrastructure projects and that therefore the market interest rate and short duration of the bond was an undue burden on public finance. They identified discrepancies in the list of infrastructure projects that the government said it would pursue with the bond proceeds (such as project amounts and whether certain donors had committed funds for the projects.)”<\/p>\n

“The opposition and critics also argued that the bond issue\u00a0had not been conducted in accordance with parliamentary procedure and was therefore illegal.” he further said.<\/p>\n

Placing a comment Blake said; “Post’s review of this charge suggests that it would make a good constitutional case — there appear to be reasonable points both in favor of the government’s right to proceed with such debt financing and also in favor of Parliament having a role in the matter, which it basically did not. The claim that the bond sale was illegal simply because it violated\u00a0the 2003 Fiscal Management Responsibility Act is less convincing, since the act sets forth “objectives” for spending, debt, and deficit, not actual limits.”<\/p>\n

Read the cable below for further details;<\/p>\n

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001488<\/p>\n

SIPDIS<\/p>\n

SENSITIVE<\/p>\n

SIPDIS<\/p>\n

STATE FOR SCA\/INS, EEB\/IFD\/ODF AND EEB\/IFD\/OMA
\nSTATE PASS USTR FOR ADINA ADLER
\nCOMMERCE FOR JONATHAN STONE
\nMCC FOR S. GROFF, D. TETER, D. NASSIRY AND E. BURKE
\nTREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL<\/p>\n

E.O 12958: N\/A
\nTAGS: EFIN EINV ECON KMCA CE
\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA: DEBUT SOVEREIGN BOND ISSUE RAISES $500 MILLION
\nDESPITE DOMESTIC CRITICISM<\/p>\n

REF: A. Colombo 1218 B. Colombo 1056<\/p>\n

\u00b61. (SBU) Summary and comment: International investors, 40% of them
\nAmerican, purchased all $500 million of Sri Lanka’s first-ever
\nsovereign bond issue, despite domestic opposition efforts to block
\nthe sale. The government offered 8.25% coupon bonds with a
\nfive-year maturity, and received orders from investment bankers in
\nAsia, Europe, and the United States totaling about triple the
\nquantity of bonds for sale. The government cited the strong
\ninvestor interest as an endorsement of Sri Lanka’s economic
\nstability. However, it appears the government chose to set the bond
\nduration to five years because it feared insufficient investor
\ninterest in ten-year bonds due to Sri Lanka’s instability. As
\nexpected, the opposition United National Party’s threat that a
\nfuture UNP government would not honor the bonds appeared to have
\nlittle impact on investor appetite for the bonds. Nevertheless, the
\nopposition continues to question the government’s stated intent to
\nuse the bond proceeds entirely to finance infrastructure investment.
\nCentral Bank Governor Cabraal assured the Ambassador that the
\ngovernment would indeed use the money for infrastructure. The
\nRajapaksa government is prone to fiscal irresponsibility, so the
\nopposition’s doubts may be justified. On the other hand, the
\ntransparency that international investors require to maintain
\nconfidence in Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt may serve as an effective
\nincentive for fiscal discipline. End summary and comment.<\/p>\n

SRI LANKA JOINS THE RANKS OF
\nEMERGING MARKET BOND ISSUERS
\n—————————-<\/p>\n

\u00b62. (U) Sri Lanka successfully sold its $500 million debut sovereign
\nbond issue to international investors the week of October 15. The
\nbond, priced at 8.25% for five-years, was oversubscribed —
\ninvestors offered to purchase nearly triple the government’s $500
\nmillion target. The bond offering was joint lead-managed by JP
\nMorgan, HSBC, and Barclays Capital, and is listed and traded in
\nSingapore. Sri Lankan Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal told
\nAmbassador November 1 that U.S. investors had bought 40% of the
\nbonds, with Asian and European buyers taking about 30% each. Prior
\nto the sale, Cabraal and other Central Bank officials joined
\nrepresentatives of the three financial firms for a “road show” to
\nseven cities in Asia, Europe, and the United States.<\/p>\n

\u00b63. (U) On the road show, Governor Cabraal pitched possible investors
\non the Sri Lanka “story,” which included the following highlights:<\/p>\n

– Sri Lanka is poised to grow along with India in fields like
\ninformation technology and business process outsourcing.<\/p>\n

– Sri Lanka’s free trade agreements with India and Pakistan position
\nit as both an export and investment platform into those two
\nmarkets.<\/p>\n

– Sri Lanka’s resilience — demonstrated by economic growth of 7.4%
\nin 2006 — is the untold story of the well-known ethnic conflict.<\/p>\n

– The ethnic conflict is confined to the North and East, which
\ncumulatively account for less than ten percent of the economy.<\/p>\n

– Sri Lanka has an unblemished debt service record; it is one of
\nonly five “emerging market” countries that have never defaulted on
\ndomestic or external debt.<\/p>\n

\u00b64. (SBU) JP Morgan’s Colombo representative described the successful
\nbond sale to EconOff as remarkable on two counts: both for the
\nstrong demand for Sri Lankan debt, and for the fact that this demand
\nexisted despite reduced investor interest in emerging market debt
\nfollowing the onset of the sub-prime loan crisis. He noted that
\nthis was the first emerging market bond floated since the sub-prime
\ncrisis hit, and that its timing was fortuitous, as markets had
\nfallen dramatically during the week after the bond issue. He cited
\nas a critical boost for the bond the Standard & Poor’s credit rating
\nagency’s August revision of its Sri Lanka rating outlook to “stable”
\nfrom “negative” (ref A). In the week since the bond was listed in<\/p>\n

COLOMBO 00001488 002 OF 004<\/p>\n

Singapore, he added, it has traded well — volume has been good and
\nits price has remained around par.<\/p>\n

\u00b65. (U) (Note: Sri Lanka has sold about $800 million worth of
\ndollar-denominated “Sri Lanka Development Bonds” to international
\ninvestors, but these were not sovereign bonds tradable in
\ninternational markets. They were domestic debt sold in Sri Lanka
\nsubject to Sri Lankan law and tradable only in the Sri Lankan
\nmarket. Sri Lanka has also allowed foreign investors to purchase up
\nto 5% of total domestic Rupee-denominated debt, currently totaling
\nabout $350 million.)<\/p>\n

OPPOSITION CHALLENGE: BOND LIKELY TO BE USED
\nIRRESPONSIBLY AND VIOLATED PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE
\n——————– —————————–<\/p>\n

\u00b66. (U) The opposition United National Party’s threat (ref A) that a
\nfuture UNP government would not honor the bonds appeared to have
\nlittle impact on investor appetite for the bonds. Following the
\nsale, the UNP and other critics continued to charge in the media
\nthat the bond issue was both imprudent and illegal. They doubted
\nthat the government would use the proceeds of the bond to finance
\ninfrastructure investment. They claimed that the government could
\neasily have obtained additional concessionary loans from
\nmultilateral development banks for infrastructure projects and that
\ntherefore the market interest rate and short duration of the bond
\nwas an undue burden on public finance. They identified
\ndiscrepancies in the list of infrastructure projects that the
\ngovernment said it would pursue with the bond proceeds (such as
\nproject amounts and whether certain donors had committed funds for
\nthe projects.)<\/p>\n

\u00b67. (SBU) Ambassador asked Cabraal about these charges. Cabraal
\nassured the Ambassador that the government would be able to show
\nthat it had spent the $500 million on infrastructure. He explained
\nthat Sri Lanka has $4.5 billion worth of infrastructure projects in
\nthe “pipeline,” and that it needed “buffer funds” to avoid
\nunnecessary delays in projects. The Government would use the funds
\nfor steps like acquiring land before the start of a project, for
\nexample, he said, adding that investors “could see the logic of
\nthis.”<\/p>\n

\u00b68. (SBU) The opposition and critics also argued that the bond issue
\nhad not been conducted in accordance with parliamentary procedure
\nand was therefore illegal. (Comment: Post’s review of this charge
\nsuggests that it would make a good constitutional case — there
\nappear to be reasonable points both in favor of the government’s
\nright to proceed with such debt financing and also in favor of
\nParliament having a role in the matter, which it basically did not.
\nThe claim that the bond sale was illegal simply because it violated
\nthe 2003 Fiscal Management Responsibility Act is less convincing,
\nsince the act sets forth “objectives” for spending, debt, and
\ndeficit, not actual limits.)<\/p>\n

GSL: TRUST US, BOND PROCEEDS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE,
\nNOT DEFENSE OR CURRENT SPENDING
\n——————————————— —<\/p>\n

\u00b69. (U) The Government continues to insist that it intends to spend
\nthe bond funds on infrastructure projects. The offering circular
\nfor the bond stated:<\/p>\n

“The Government will use the net proceeds from the issue of the
\nBonds to supplement available concessional funds to develop
\ninfrastructure projects that have been previously approved by the
\nGovernment and included in the current 2007 Budget. Such
\ninfrastructure projects include but are not limited to: electricity
\ngeneration, transmission, distribution, and substation facilities;
\nroads and bridges; water supply, sanitation and sewage facilities;
\nport facilities; and highways and railway lines…. A portion of the
\nnet proceeds will be used for bridging finance for such projects….
\nNevertheless, the Government is subject to budgetary and funding
\nlimitations and there is no assurance that all the net proceeds will
\nultimately be used only for these projects.”<\/p>\n

COLOMBO 00001488 003 OF 004<\/p>\n

\u00b610. (SBU) A mid-level Central Bank source explained to EconFSN that
\nthe final clause was included not to give the government wiggle room
\nto spend the funds on whatever it wants, but to allow the government
\nto use the money for temporary purposes until it is needed for
\nspecific projects.<\/p>\n

BOND WILL EASE PRESSURE ON RUPEE AND
\nINTEREST RATES, BUT COULD ADD TO INFLATION
\n——————————————<\/p>\n

\u00b611. (U) The Central Bank asserted in its October monetary policy
\nstatement that the bond sale would ease recent Rupee depreciation,
\nhigh interest rates and high inflation. Indeed, since the issuance
\nof the bond, the Rupee has strengthened against the dollar to about
\n112 from a low of about 114 on October 14 (just before the bond
\nsale). The prime lending rate is now 17.6% after having reached
\n20.5% on October 10.<\/p>\n

\u00b612. (SBU) Comment: The strengthening of the Rupee follows from there
\nnow being a greater supply of dollars in Sri Lanka. The easing of
\ninterest rates follows from the government’s reduced need to borrow
\nfunds domestically. However, the Central Bank’s assertion that
\ninflation will ease due to the stronger Rupee’s effect in reducing
\nthe cost of imports is probably too optimistic. The influx of
\ndollars, when converted to Rupees and given to the government, will
\nadd to the money supply and thereby contribute to the demand-driven
\nportion of Sri Lanka’s current 17% inflation. This could be avoided
\nif the Central Bank “sterilizes” by selling local bonds and thereby
\nabsorbing Rupees from private hands. However, a senior Central Bank
\nofficial told Econoff he doubted the Bank would fully sterilize the
\ninflux.<\/p>\n

BOND WON’T SERIOUSLY ADD TO SRI LANKA’S
\nFOREIGN CURRENCY DEBT BURDEN
\n—————————————<\/p>\n

\u00b613. (SBU) Critics cited the large figures for Sri Lanka’s total
\noutstanding external debt (about $12 billion) and external debt as a
\npercentage of GDP (about 46%) as additional reasons that the bond
\nsale was imprudent. While true that Sri Lanka owes a lot of money
\nboth domestically and externally, the $500 million bond will not
\ndrastically change Sri Lanka’s overall debt service burden. Sri
\nLanka’s debt service ratio of 12.7% (2006) is manageable because a
\nlarge majority of its external debt — about 96% — is on
\nconcessionary terms. Nor is the country in imminent danger of a
\nbalance of payments crisis. Sri Lanka consistently runs a balance
\nof payments surplus thanks to continued strong inflows of
\nremittances, donor funding, and even growing foreign direct
\ninvestment. It receives little portfolio investment — so called
\n“hot money” that could be pulled out quickly if the country lost
\nfavor with investors. Thus Sri Lanka’s balance of payments surplus
\nand its ability to service this debt and the rest of its debt
\nappears secure — all reasons why international investors snapped up
\nthe bonds with their attractive 8.25% return.<\/p>\n

COMMENT: AN “EXERCISE IN FISCAL DISCIPLINE”
\n——————————————<\/p>\n

\u00b614. (SBU) The opposition and other critics are not wrong to be
\nconcerned that the government would use the money irresponsibly.
\nThe Rajapaksa government is likely to spend the money on projects
\nrun by state-owned or -connected enterprises that are inefficient
\nand, in some cases, incompetent. It is likely to pursue projects
\nthat Americans would recognize as political “pork” designed to
\ndeliver benefits to favored constituents, not to be economically
\nviable. In fact, these are reasons why the critics were wrong to
\ncharge that the government could easily have received more
\nconcessionary loans for the infrastructure it wants to build. It
\ncould not have, because donors like the Asian Development Bank and
\nWorld Bank would not finance the types of projects the government
\nwants, though they are already financing plenty of infrastructure
\nand other projects here. The government may also be tempted to
\nspend some of the money to cover current expenses like salaries for<\/p>\n

COLOMBO 00001488 004 OF 004<\/p>\n

the bloated civil service and subsidies for the loss-making Ceylon
\nElectricity Board and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. As long as it
\ncontinues to run a budget deficit, it will have to borrow from
\nsomewhere to cover such costs. In financial terms, it is not
\nsignificant whether money used for these particular expenses is
\nborrowed at home or abroad.<\/p>\n

\u00b615. (SBU) More significant would be if the government uses the
\ndollars it raised in the bond sale to finance weapons purchases,
\nwhich generally must be paid for with hard currency. The local HSBC
\nhead told EconOff that he directly warned the government against
\nthis when HSBC first evaluated whether to seek the bond management
\nrole. He said use of the bond proceeds for military procurement
\nwould be the surest way to lose investors’ confidence and
\nwillingness to purchase future debt.<\/p>\n

\u00b616. (SBU) Ironically, the government’s likely interest in returning
\nto international markets to borrow more in the future is the main
\nfactor that could keep it from frittering the money away on useless
\ninfrastructure, current expenses, or military hardware. As the JP
\nMorgan rep told EconOff, the government being free to do what it
\nwants with the money makes the bond sale an “exercise in fiscal
\ndiscipline.” With credit ratings services scrutinizing Sri Lanka’s
\naccounts, he asserted, investors will know before long if the
\ngovernment fails to spend the money wisely. Thus, while we share
\nconcerns that the Rajapaksa government may not use the money
\nresponsibly, we think the long-term implications of the government’s
\nborrowing in international markets could be healthy for Sri Lanka,
\nby creating a functional incentive for greater transparency and
\naccountability.
\nBLAKE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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