The World Bank announced today an issue of $150 million in five-year floating rate notes. It is the Bank’s third FRN issue in the U.S. domestic market. The FRN is priced at a spread of 50 basis points (hundredths of one percent) over the bond equivalent yield of 91-day U.S. Treasury bills. Interest will be payable quarterly and reset weekly. The new FRN issue is managed by The First Boston Corporation.
The United States and 147 other countries are stockholders in the World Bank. Since its establishment, the Bank has made loans exceeding $103 billion to its member countries. These loans are financed by the Bank predominantly through the issuance of its obligations to institutional and other investors, as well as through retained earnings and the capital subscriptions of stockholders. The Bank has made a profit each year since 1947 and anticipates record earnings in its current fiscal year ending June 30, 1985. The Bank’s liquid cash reserves stood at approximately $15-2 billion as of December 31, 1984.
This issue, along with two Canadian FRNs and the Bank's recent $500 million undated FRN issue in the Eurodollar market, brings the Bank's borrowings in the market on a floating rate basis to around US$950 million out of expected borrowings of about $12 billion in fiscal year 1985.
