Kenya has launched the sale of new bonds to raise 60 billion Shillings ($494.47 million) amid investors' demand for higher interest rates, Business Daily newspaper reported.

The 10-year and 15-year reopened bonds will raise 40 billion Shillings, while a new 25-five-year paper will generate 20 billion Shillings.

The 10- and 15-year bonds, with a maturity of 4.9 years and 12.3 years, respectively, will offer interest at 12.97% and 12.76%.

 The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said the market will determine the interest rate for the 25-year bond.

 The September issuance, which targeted 50 billion Shillings, generated 39.02 billion Shillings, according to the report.

The government issued three bonds to raise 110 billion Shillings in July and August 2022, the first two months of the fiscal year, but it managed to garner only 54.2 billion Shillings.

In the current fiscal year, the government aims to borrow 578.6 billion Shillings from the local market to finance the budget gap of 845 billion Shillings.

(Editing by Cleofe Maceda; cleofe.maceda@lseg.com)