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The city sold $913 million of bonds this week at historic low interest rates and refinanced older bonds to save taxpayers more than $75 million, officials said Thursday.
The sale included both taxable and tax-exempt bonds. The average interest rate on the tax-exempt bonds was 3.2 percent, the lowest rate on record, according to a news release from the city. The $75 million savings will result from refinancing more than $625 million of general obligation bonds.
"This is a great day for Honolulu and it will help the city continue to bend the debt curve," Mayor Peter Carlisle said in a news release. "While some other cities have declared bankruptcies, the Honolulu team worked hard to be fiscally responsible during the worst downturn since the Great Depression, which has resulted in extraordinary savings guaranteed through the bond refinancing."
More than $2.7 billion in orders were received for the bonds, a record amount for the city. The marketing effort included an Internet-based presentation viewed by more than 35 major institutions, and in-person meetings and conference calls with institutional investors in Honolulu and on the mainland. Bank of America Merrill Lynch served as lead underwriter for the offering with Piper Jaffray & Co. as co-manager. A one-day retail order period on Wednesday generated more than $140 million in orders from individual investors and their advisers, according to the news release. Sales to institutional investors followed Thursday.
Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investor Services affirmed the city’s existing general obligation bond ratings at "AA+" and "Aa1" respectively — both with stable outlooks.
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