Sri Lanka has appointed seven lead managers for a sovereign bond worth up to $1.5 billion and could tap the capital market as soon as next month, a source close to the deal said on Thursday. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the government was looking to issue a bond with a term of more than 15 years. The banks are Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Morgan Stanley and two Chinese institutions, the source, who has direct knowledge of the deal, told Reuters.

A government source who also has knowledge of the deal confirmed the seven banks. Karunanayake also said inflows from the bond, another $1 billion from two syndicated loans, and $500 million from Sri Lanka Development Bonds would be used to boost foreign reserves. "We expect see a double-digit (billion dollar) reserves this year with the flows from asset leasing and some divestment from state assets," Karunanayake told reporters.

Copyright Reuters, 2017