State sells $150 million in bonds at 5.3 percentThe...

State sells $150 million in bonds at 5.3 percent

The Maryland Board of Public Works yesterday sold $150 million in general obligation bonds at a 5.3 percent interest rate to a syndicate headed by J. P. Morgan Securities Inc., the low bidder.

The bonds were rated Triple-A by the three major bond-rating services.

Maryland Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein said the savings resulting from the rating, the highest possible, means there is a stable real estate tax in the state and less General Fund money will be needed to repay the debt.

The 15-year bonds are sold in $5,000 denominations and are available to the public from brokers and bond dealers.

Proceeds will finance $35.7 million in general state construction, $19.7 million in higher education facilities loans, $18.6 million in public safety and correctional projects, $17.9 million in public school construction, $14.1 million in water quality projects, plus other cultural and educational projects.

Maryland's last bond sale was in February. It sold $170 million in bonds then to a syndicate headed by Merrill Lynch at 4.51 percent, which was the third-best interest rate that the state had obtained in two decades.

Pub Date: 6/06/96