Washington, DC, January 17, 2008 – The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the "World Bank") rated Aaa/AAA, has launched a 500 million South African Rand (ZAR) due July 29, 2009 for European retail and institutional investors. The ZAR 500 million bond is a syndicated transaction lead managed by ABN Amro. The co-lead managers are Danske Bank, DZ Bank, and UBS.
 
Amount: ZAR 500 million
Settlement date: January 28, 2008
Maturity date: July 29, 2009
Issue price: 100.3875%
Coupon: 10.5% annually
Denomination: ZAR 15,000 initial and 5,000 thereafter
Listing: Luxembourg
Clearing systems: Euroclear and Clearstream
ISIN: XS0342164109

The World Bank's bond products and investor presentation can be accessed through the website of the World Bank for bond investors (www.worldbank.org/debtsecurities). For a list of selected bonds issued recently by the World Bank, see: http://treasury.worldbank.org/recentissues.