The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) announced this Friday that it made the first issue of SOFR bonds for 85 million dollars in the Taiwan market, whose resources will be used to finance projects to improve the quality of life in the region.
“CABEI issues again in the Taiwanese market, two private issues at a price of SOFR MS + 100bps, for a term of 5 years,” the regional bank said in a statement released in Tegucigalpa.
CABEI opted for the Taiwanese market to debut in the issuance of SOFR floating-rate notes “given its position as the most relevant market for the Bank in Asia,” he added.
The Bank has placed 22 issues since 1997 for around 2,700 million dollars, which represents about 70% of CABEI’s total issues in this continent.
“The Republic of China (Taiwan) through its 30 years of membership has become a solid partner of Central America, especially in difficult times such as the pandemic and natural disasters,” CABEI Executive President Dante Mossi said.
The support of Taiwanese investors indicates “once again their confidence in the Institution that has obtained 18 rating upgrades in the last 20 years, on its way to becoming the best rated issuer in Latin America.”
For more than 20 years, the Central American Bank has carried out a strategy of diversifying its financing sources through “an uninterrupted presence in the international capital markets, which has placed CABEI in a privileged global position.”
He pointed out that CABEI plans to “continue issuing bonds in this market to finance high-impact projects that will improve the quality of life in general in Central America.”
Taiwan is one of CABEI’s first non-regional partners, which it joined 30 years ago and currently has a shareholding of 11.42%, the highest in the regional bank.
Since then, Taiwan has made important contributions in key areas for the fight against poverty, such as food security, education, the agricultural sector, financing for small and medium-sized industries, agribusiness, coffee and exports, among others.
On August 3, CABEI and Taiwan commemorated 30 years of jointly supporting the development of Central America with an “Innovation, Sustainability and Cooperation Forum”.