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Saudi Arabia Issues $12 Billion in Dollar Bonds in 3 Tranches

The Kingdom sold $12 billion worth of US dollar bonds on Tuesday. (SPA)
The Kingdom sold $12 billion worth of US dollar bonds on Tuesday. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Issues $12 Billion in Dollar Bonds in 3 Tranches

The Kingdom sold $12 billion worth of US dollar bonds on Tuesday. (SPA)
The Kingdom sold $12 billion worth of US dollar bonds on Tuesday. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia’s National Debt Management Center (NDMC) has completed the first offering of international bonds in 2024 at a value of SR 45 billion ($12 billion), within the international government bond program.
The Kingdom sold $12 billion worth of US dollar bonds on Tuesday, in its largest issuance since 2017. The three-part deal includes bonds maturing in 2030, 2034 and 2054.
According to a statement by NDMC, the value of the first tranche was $3.25 billion for a 6-year bond maturing in 2030. The second tranche totaled $4 billion for a 10-year bond maturing in 2034, while the third totaled $4.75 billion for a 30-year bond maturing in 2054.
The debt center added the total issuance was oversubscribed 2.5 times, reaching around $30 billion.
The statement noted that this step was part of the National Debt Management Center’s strategy to expand the investor base in order to meet the Kingdom’s financing needs from global debt markets efficiently and effectively.
It also stressed that the volume of demand by international investors for government debt instruments reflected their confidence in the strength of the Saudi economy and the future of investment opportunities in the Kingdom.
According to Bloomberg, the Kingdom follows the example of countries such as Mexico, Indonesia, and Poland, which have issued nearly $25 billion in bonds since the beginning of 2024, making it the busiest start to a year ever in terms of dollar and euro-denominated debt issuances in developing countries.
Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered are managing the deal.

 

 

 

 

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IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
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IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East could have significant economic ramifications for the region and the global economy, but commodity prices remain below the highs of the past year.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told a regular news briefing that the Fund is closely monitoring the situation in southern Lebanon with "grave concern" and offered condolences for the loss of life.

"The potential for further escalation of the conflict heightens risks and uncertainty and could have significant economic ramifications for the region and beyond," Kozack said.

According to Reuters, she said it was too early to predict specific impacts on the global economy, but noted that economies in the region have already suffered greatly, especially in Gaza, where the civilian population "faces dire socioeconomic conditions, a humanitarian crisis and insufficient aid deliveries.

The IMF estimates that Gaza's GDP declined 86% in the first half of 2024, Kozack said, while the West Bank's first-half GDP likely declined 25%, with prospects of a further deterioration.

Israel's GDP contracted by about 20% in the fourth quarter of 2023 after the conflict began, and the country has seen only a partial recovery in the first half of 2024, she added.
The IMF will update its economic projections for all countries and the global economy later in October when the global lender and World Bank hold their fall meetings in Washington.
"In Lebanon, the recent intensification of the conflict is exacerbating the country's already fragile macroeconomic and social situation," Kozack said, referring to Israel's airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"The conflict has inflicted a heavy human toll on the country, and it has damaged physical infrastructure."
The main channels for the conflict to impact the global economy have been through higher commodity prices, including oil and grains, as well as increased shipping costs, as vessels avoid potential missile attacks by Yemen's Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea, Kozack said. But commodity prices are currently lower than their peaks in the past year.
"I just emphasize once again that we're closely monitoring the situation, and this is a situation of great concern and very high uncertainty," she added.
Lebanon in 2022 reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a potential loan program, but there has been insufficient progress on required reforms, Kozack said.
"We are prepared to engage with Lebanon on a possible financing program when the situation is appropriate to do so, but it would necessitate that the actions can be taken and decisive policy measures can be taken," Kozack added. "We are currently supporting Lebanon through capacity development assistance and other areas where possible."