Kenya has launched a $1 billion buyback offer for its February 2028 Eurobond, along with a sale of new notes to finance the repurchase, it said on Thursday, as the government seeks to manage its debt maturities more efficiently.

The East African nation has been working to cut its overall debt, which stands at close to 70% of its GDP, and make repayments more manageable.

Finance Minister John Mbadi told Reuters that the country had revamped its debt maturity management after its shilling currency weakened sharply in the run-up to a big Eurobond maturity in June last year due to market concerns about the government's ability to pay off that bond.

REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON PUBLIC FINANCES

"We don't want the same story to be repeated so we are managing 2028 (maturity) now to smoothen the curve," Mbadi said.

Earlier this year, the government bought back another bond maturing in 2027, and it has also paid off a 60 billion shilling ($465 million) debt to the Africa-based Trade and Development Bank to cut pressure on public coffers, Mbadi said.

The current repurchase offer will run from October 2 until October 9, the government said in a statement on the London Stock Exchange. It is selling a 7-year, amortized bond with a final maturity of October 2033 to finance the buyback.

($1 = 129.0000 Kenyan shillings)

(Reporting by George Obulutsa and Duncan Miriri. Editing by Alexander Winning and Mark Potter)