BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana has borrowed $189 million to replenish the account that pays for state-financed construction work.
The Bond Commission, which oversees construction spending, approved the general obligation bond sale Wednesday. The sale involves borrowing money by selling bonds to investors for upfront cash.
Bank Of America Merrill Lynch was the winning bidder. The debt will be paid over decades with a 3.4 percent interest rate.
Louisiana's financial adviser, Lamont Financial Services, said terms of the sale were good and the state didn't seem to take a hit from its credit downgrade by a national rating agency last week.
Without new cash, Louisiana was expected to soon start running out of money for items in the state construction budget like building repairs, economic development projects, roadwork and lawmakers' local projects.
