Mongolia PM sees sovereign bond issue early as H2 2011

SINGAPORE, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Mongolia's prime minister said on Friday the country may issue a sovereign bond as early as the second half of this year. "We are still working on it. The latest is next year, but it might be in the second half of this year. We might come with a bond issue," said Sukhbaatar Batbold, who was in Singapore attending a lecture at the National University of Singapore. Last November, an official of the Mongolian central bank in London said the north Asian nation may raise as much as $700 million from a debut international bond issue. The bond could be launched in early 2011, Enke Enkhjargal, chief representative of the London office of Mongolia's central bank, said at that time. Mongolia sits on vast quantities of untapped mineral wealth. Analysts say it could be one of the fastest growing economies of the next decade, as well as a key investment target for global mining giants. Mining accounts for over 60 percent of total foreign direct investment. The government is expected to appoint bankers to manage an initial share offering in its Tavan Tolgoi coal mine, the world's largest untapped coking coal deposit, sources with knowledge of the matter had said last week. (Reporting by Randy Fabi) Keywords: MONGOLIA ECONOMY/DEBT (Randolph.Fabi@thomsonreuters.com)(+65 6870 3803)(Reuters Messaging: randolph.fabi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved.