Saudi NDMC Raises Billions from Sale of Islamic bonds

Saudi Arabia’s National Debt Management Center has raised US$6 billion from the sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, under its Global Trust Certificate Issuance Program. A statement issued on Tuesday said the Kingdom sold a US$3 billion six-year tranche at 80 basis points over US Treasuries and another US$3 billion in 10-year notes at 100 bps over UST. Order books for the deal hit over US$27 billion, it added. The bid-to-cover ratio reflects the strong demand for the Kingdom’s issuances, confirming the international investors’ confidence in the Saudi economy.

It is part of NDMC’s strategy to diversify funding sources and expand the investor base to meet the Kingdom’s financing needs from international debt capital markets efficiently and effectively. The latest issuance represents the Kingdom’s first dual-tranche sukuk issuance since 2017. It comes on the back of a successful US$10 billion multi-tranche bond transaction, which was executed in January 2023.

Several local and international banks and financial institutions contributed to this issuance. Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., J.P. Morgan Securities Plc., and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint global coordinators and active book-runners while AlJazira Capital, BNP Paribas, and Goldman Sachs acted as passive book-runners.