RALEIGH — The Office of State Treasurer, through the State and Local Government Finance Division, announced Thursday afternoon the successful issuance of $106 million in general obligation refunding bonds. State Treasurer Dale Folwell (R) said the bonds were issued to take advantage of low interest rates that will reduce to costs of debt service for the State.”We are very pleased with the refunding,” said Folwell. “We were able to secure an interest rate well below the ‘AAA’ indices. The favorable rate reflects the fiscally conservative management of our state by the General Assembly. It is also the result of the taxes paid by the hard-working citizens and businesses that keep our credit quality so high. I’d also like to thank the bond purchasers and all those whose efforts contributed to this successful result.”Last week, all three major national bond rating agencies re-affirmed the state’s “AAA” bond rating. North Carolina is one of only 12 states to earn the “AAA” bond rating by all three rating agencies.The $106 million in bonds issued, the first of three planned bond sales over the next 60 days, were purchased entirely by Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. at an interest rate of 1.39 percent. The new rate saves taxpayers approximately $15 million in debt servicing costs.
