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Saudi Arabia next to launch bond sale?MENA

Saudi Arabia next to launch bond sale?

Saudi Arabia is like that friend who turns up to the party four hours late (but then again that’s typical for an Arab, right?).

Though the other Gulf states rushed to sell bonds recently, Saudi had remained largely quiet. Now, it seems, the country is finally ready to get back on the global capital markets and is going to launch a USD 5b bond sale. The sale is set to happen this month, but no official date has been announced yet.

Governments and companies across the region are expected to issue around USD 120b in Dollar and Islamic securities in 2021.

why it matters
Saudi Arabia struggled with the impact of the slide in oil prices last year, and while those prices have rebounded around 45% since their record lows in October, there is still a long way to go in order to recover. The Kingdom needs the price of oil to be at USD 80 a barrel to balance its domestic budget (it is now around USD 55). It seems, therefore, that this move is intended to help the economy bounce back from the recent hit it has taken.