WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 5--On January 30, 1997, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched a pound sterling 250 million bond issue. This issue represents the largest Japanese retail-targeted transaction by IFC to date. The 3-year fixed-rate notes carry a semi-annual coupon of 6.34% per annum and an issue price of 99.10 percent. The proceeds of the issue will be swapped into U.S. dollar floating-rate funds.
The sole lead manager of the issue is Yamaichi International (Europe) Ltd.
This transaction brings IFC's market borrowing to about US$2.9 billion for the fiscal year 1997.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of financing for private sector companies in developing countries. Its long-term debt is rated AAA/Aaa by Standard & Poor's Corp. and Moody's Investors Service.