RALEIGH State Treasurer Dale Folwell, through the State and Local Government Finance Division (SLGFD) of the N.C. State Treasurer’s office, announced Friday the sale of approximately $618 million of limited obligation refunding bonds.”This refunding is the largest of the three,” said Folwell. “Like last week’s refunding, we were pleased to be able to secure such a favorable interest rate. In fact, the interest rate we were able to secure today was even lower than what we had anticipated.”Last week, the SLGFD issued approximately $106 million of general obligation refunding bonds. The bonds were purchased by Citigroup Global Markets at an interest rate of 1.39 percent, saving taxpayers $15 million in debt service costsFriday’s sale was the second of three planned for this summer. The bonds were issued and sold to take advantage of lower interest rates, thus reducing debt service costs for taxpayers. Seven bidders signed up for the July 20, 2017, sale, according to the State Treasurer’s office, with investment bank Goldman Sachs purchasing the bonds at an interest rate of 2.27 percent, saving North Carolina taxpayers $83.55 million in debt service costs..”So far, with these two sales, we have realized almost $100 million in savings for North Carolina taxpayers,” said Folwell. “That means more money for roads, classrooms and law enforcement; those core functions that people expect from government.”
