NAIROBI, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Wednesday put up for sale an infrastructure bond worth 87.8 billion Kenyan shillings (718 million U.S. dollars).

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said the six-year tenor paper will also be sold via switch auction to investors who already have holdings of specific Treasury bills and bonds.

Switch auction involves a transaction that exchanges securities held by investors with selected bonds. The transaction is majorly used to increase liquidity in the debt securities market, but the CBK is using it to reduce the pressure of interest payments to investors holding short-term papers.

The infrastructure paper will be sold until Nov. 30 and auctioned on Dec. 1, the apex bank said.

The infrastructure bond has been floated at a time the government is cash-strapped and is facing challenges in financing its budget.

Kenya's public debt currently stands at 71 U.S. billion dollars, with 49 percent being domestic and the rest external. Enditem

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