This week, the State of Rhode Island sold three series of general obligation bonds to spur a broad-based economic recovery for Rhode Island. Treasurer Magaziner has advocated for the use of bonding to jumpstart job creation in Rhode Island since this summer, and he helped lead the effort to pass seven bonding measures in this March's special election.
"With this bond sale, our state can now put thousands of Rhode Islanders back to work fixing our roads and bridges, building more affordable housing for those in need, preserving our pristine natural landmarks that are so important to our tourism industry, and more," said General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. "I'm proud the state was able to take advantage of historically low interest rates on these bond sales, which will go a long way towards boosting economic development in the state."
Treasurer Magaziner held a month-long public awareness campaign ahead of the March special election highlighting the potential for a broad-based economic recovery through the use of bonding. This week, Rhode Island sold $223,560,000 tax-exempt and taxable General Obligation Bonds at an overall average interest rate of 1.59%, a rate of interest not experienced in recent history. These new bonds will put thousands of Rhode Islanders affected by the COVID-19 pandemic back to work. Earlier this year, Treasurer Magaziner also announced the State had refinanced existing state bonds to a lower interest rate, which saved Rhode Island taxpayers over six million dollars, reduced the state budget deficit for FY2021, and prepared the state for the bond sale this week.
###