The World Bank has arranged the sale, entirely outside the United States, of a $100 million issue of United States dollar bonds. The sale was made by private placement with 48 institutional investors in 29 countries.
The new bonds will be known as the “Two Year Bonds of 1960” and will carry interest of 3½% a year, payable semi-annually, with the first payment due on April 1, 1961. The issue is dated October 1, 1960 and matures October 1, 1962.
Keen interest was shown in the new issue and it was heavily oversubscribed. Purchasers included central banks, government special accounts, privately owned commercial banks, insurance companies and corporations.
The bonds were purchased by investors in the following countries:
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Cambodia
Canada
Colombia
Denmark
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Japan
Malaya
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Union of South Africa
United Kingdom
Yugoslavia
On completion of the current transaction and after allowing for retirement of $75 million of Two Year 3¼% Bonds placed outside the United States in September 1958, the total outstanding obligations of the World Bank will amount to about $2,100 million, of which about $1,700 million is denominated in United States dollars and about $400 million in Belgian francs, Canadian dollars, Deutsche marks, Netherlands guilders, sterling and Swiss francs.
More than half of the Bank's outstanding debt is held by investors outside the United States. Included in the holdings of these investors, in addition to non-dollar obligations, are some $735 million of the dollar bonds and notes of the Bank, or about 43% of its total U.S. dollar obligations.
