Seychelles issues another Bond on the International Capital Markets |24 August 2007

Lehman Brothers acted as the sole lead manager in the transaction, the communiqué said.
According to the communiqué the Government views this move as an important step in its attempt to continue clearing its outstanding arrears. 

“To date, significant efforts have been made in clearing up arrears with African Development Bank, European Investment Bank and World Bank and negotiations are under way for restructuring some of the outstanding debts so as to improve the repayment process,” the communiqué noted. 

“As a result, the debt burden has been stabilised and overall is in line with the goal of reducing the debt to GDP ratio,” added the communiqué. 

This reflects the commitment of President James Michel towards debt reduction, ultimate clearing of arrears and improvement of the fiscal stance, all of which has assisted in further reinforcing investor confidence in the economy which has led to strong FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows recorded in the past few years.

“It is important to note that the performance of the economy has been on an upward trend in the past few years with domestic output, mainly driven by a robust tourism sector,” the communiqué said, adding, “These positive developments have assisted with the country being able to once again access the international capital markets.”