Colombia Buys Back $600 Million Bonds

Colombia bought back $601 million of foreign-currency bonds yesterday, Monday, in a move to reduce foreign currency debt obligations. Surging commodity-led export revenues were used to fund the repurchase of the dollar- and euro-denominated debt instruments maturing between 2006 and 2011. The sovereign also sold $306 million worth of peso-denominated bonds to help fund the buyback. The local currency bonds — Global TES — mature in 2015 and are part of an issue first launched last February. Colombia cancelled a planned sale of new paper maturing in 2021. The deal was managed by JP Morgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley. Last year, Colombia’s foreign currency-denominated debt as a share of overall debt fell to 33% from 44% in 2004.