Nairobi, Sept. 2 -- The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) rejected Sh20.4 billion offered by investors in the two reopened September bonds as it sought to keep a lid on the government's borrowing costs in a highly liquid market.

The State's fiscal agent accepted Sh47.7 billion out of the Sh68.1 billion offered by investors, some of whom are looking to reinvest funds received from maturities and coupon payments worth Sh172.9 billion last month.

The CBK was looking to raise Sh60 billion from the reopened 15-year and 30-year bonds which have 7.9 and 14.4 years left to maturity respectively.

Investors bid Sh57.1 billion on the 15-year paper, seeking average returns of 12.8290 percent incorporating a discount on the bond's coupon or fixed interes...