Rush UMS Job Gets 2009 Funding Done

Though criticized for execution, Mexico has succeeded in plugging this year’s funding gap with Wednesday’s sale of $1.5bn in 5.875% of 2014 bonds. The sovereign had needed to borrow about $3.2bn to meet 2009 maturities and was looking to borrow $1bn-$2bn following a $2bn December bond sale. “We wanted to get that additional funding as early as possible,” Gerardo Rodriguez, Mexico’s head of public credit, tells LatinFinance. The official notes uncertainty in the markets going forward, particularly regarding US Treasury bond yields. Rodriguez explains that Mexico was looking to shore up different parts of the curve and had received interest at the short and long ends. “A 20-year maturity is certainly not usual, but we had received some interest from investors. In the morning, we got feedback that the demand was on the short side, so we concentrated there,” he says. The last time Mexico sold a 5-year bond was a $1.5bn issue in April 2003, Rodriguez says. The finance ministry says in a statement that the issue provides a new 5-year benchmark for both public and private sector issuers. It adds that the bond financing comes at an attractive rate and also diversifies the sovereign investor base.