Johannesburg — In the last bond sale of June 5th, international investors gave SA a big vote of confidence by snapping up its largest dollar-denominated bond to date, despite the severe global lending crisis.

SA raised the amount on a 10-year issue it planned to raise offshore this year to $1,5bn from an initial $1bn after it was oversubscribed more than five times, the Treasury's director-general, Lesetja Kganyago.

"This is our most spectacular deal in history ... we have had the most remarkable reception from investors despite the difficult financial environment.".

"This demonstrates a resounding vote of confidence in the policies we have been implementing in the past 15 years ... we have had a lot of new investors subscribe," Kganyago said.

"We can take comfort from the fact that even in this difficult environment we can have such a huge investor base. We are on a very solid wicket," he said.