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Saudi NDMC Completes $33.3 Billion Borrowing Plan for 2021

A general view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (File Photo: Reuters)
A general view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (File Photo: Reuters)
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Saudi NDMC Completes $33.3 Billion Borrowing Plan for 2021

A general view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (File Photo: Reuters)
A general view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (File Photo: Reuters)

Saudi Arabia's National Debt Management Center (NDMC) has completed its 2021 borrowing plan worth over $33.3 billion as part of the public debt strategy adopted to meet the financing needs and seize the opportunities available in local and global markets, and manage potential risks.

NDMC asserted it was working to broaden the investor base, open communication channels with the investors locally and internationally, and enter new geographical regions.

The Center's Chairman, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan, highlighted that NDMC's board of directors had approved the proposal of the annual borrowing plan at the beginning of the year.

He indicated that the plan covered the financing needs by issuing $33.3 billion debt instruments, including Sukuk and bonds, which focused on fixed-rate instruments to hedge against risks of potential interest rate fluctuations.

Jadaan indicated that NDMC succeeded in arranging the issuance of sovereign bonds worth €6.8 billion, with the most significant negative yield issuance ever out of the EU, with a coverage ratio of 3.3 times (equivalent to €11.3bn) of the total issuance, which displays the leading position of the Kingdom in global markets.

The Center successfully arranged for the financing of $3 billion provided by Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (KSURE) earlier this year. Additionally, NDMC arranged the second early repurchase of part of bonds and Sukuk maturing next year of a value exceeding $8.8 billion.

The Minister announced that 60.5 percent of the debt raised in 2021 was from local sources. The remaining 39.5 percent was made up of international borrowing.

Additionally, several financing channels were utilized, such as government alternative funding and early repurchase of local government issuances.

Work has also started on structuring the green financing framework, one of the ministry's new initiatives and debt-raising channels set to launch next year.

The Minister pointed out that the Kingdom's credit rating has been revised in terms of outlook by credit rating agencies to "stable" affirms the efficiency of the fiscal system, its ability to overcome challenges, its forward-looking approach, and its efforts in developing plans to address these challenges.

Acting CEO Hani al-Medaini said NDMC was working to broaden the investor base, open communication channels with the investors locally and internationally, and penetrate new geographical regions.

He added that NDMC was working with international financial institutions to join the Primary Dealers Program of the Government Local Debt Instruments, attract new foreign capitals to utilize the opportunities available in debt instruments arranged by NDMC, and seize opportunities in local and international markets.

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Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
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Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Mexico won't be required to pay tariffs on any goods that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade until April 2, but made no mention of a reprieve for Canada despite his Commerce secretary saying a comparable exemption was likely.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd."

Earlier on Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the one-month reprieve on hefty tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada that has been granted to automotive products is likely to be extended to all products that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.

Lutnick told CNBC he expected Trump to announce that extension on Thursday, a day after exempting automotive goods from the 25% tariffs he slapped on imports from Canada and Mexico earlier in the week.

Trump "is going to decide this today," Lutnick said, adding "it's likely that it will cover all USMCA-compliant goods and services."

"So if you think about it this way, if you lived under Donald Trump's US-Mexico-Canada agreement, you will get a reprieve from these tariffs now. If you chose to go outside of that, you did so at your own risk, and today is when that reckoning comes," he said.

Nonetheless, Trump's social media post made no mention of a reprieve for Canada, the other party to the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Lutnick said his "off the cuff" estimate was that more than 50% of the goods imported from the two US neighbors - also its largest two trading partners - were compliant with the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Lutnick's comments "promising" in remarks to reporters in Canada.

"That aligns with some of the conversations that we have been having with administration officials, but I'm going to wait for an official agreement to talk about Canadian response and look at the details of it," Trudeau said. "But it is a promising sign. But I will highlight that it means that the tariffs remain in place, and therefore our response will remain in place."

Lutnick emphasized that the reprieve would only last until April 2, when he said the administration plans to move ahead with reciprocal tariffs under which the US will impose levies that match those imposed by trading partners.

In the meantime, he said, the current hiatus is about getting fentanyl deaths down, which is the initial justification Trump used for the tariffs on Mexico and Canada and levies on Chinese goods that have now risen to 20%.

"On April 2, we're going to move with the reciprocal tariffs, and hopefully Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table, and we'll move just to the reciprocal tariff conversation," Lutnick said. "But if they haven't, this will stay on."

Indeed, Trudeau is expecting the US and Canada to remain in a trade war.

"I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future," he told reporters in Ottawa.