Korea Finance raises 30 bln yen in Samurai bonds

SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's policy lender Korea Finance Corp. said Thursday that it has raised 30 billion yen (US$391 million) by selling the Japanese-currency denominated bonds despite the current global market turmoil. Korea Finance said it has sold three tranches of so-called Samurai bonds with lower-than-expected costs even as the global financial markets underwent high volatility, hit by fears about Greece's potential default. The state agency said it sold 15.5 billion yen worth of the bonds which mature in two years with an interest rate 0.6 percentage points higher than the yen-swap rate. It sold 7.5 billion yen of three-year debts with a rate 0.7 percentage points more than the yen-swap rate and the remainder, which matures in five years, carries a rate of 0.85 percentage point higher than the benchmark. A Samurai bond is a yen-denominated bond floated in Japan by non-Japanese firms. Korea Finance said the debt sale marked its first issuance of Samurai bonds. Korea Finance said that the proceeds of the debt sale will be used to support local companies seeking to expand their business in areas like green growth projects.