Sri Lanka waiting for opportune time to raise up to $1.5 billion bond

Sri Lanka is waiting for the right time to launch a sovereign bond of up to $1.5 billion, possibly with a longer tenure to roll over its debts in 2015, Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran said on Tuesday. The island nation's last sovereign bond of $500 million was priced at a yield of 5.125 percent in April 2014.
"Now that inflation is coming down, I see no reason why we won't get a better rate of interest," Mahendran told Reuters. Sri Lanka's inflation hit a record low of 0.6 percent in January, slowing from 3.2 percent the previous month after the new government reduced fuel prices.
Speculation over an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and Greece possibly exiting the euro zone have been weighing on emerging markets' bond pricing at the moment, Mahendran said.
"So we want to wait for an opportune moment. When that volatility decreases then we will be able to get the best possible rate for our borrowing," he said.