Debt Issuances

GCC debt deluge: big-ticket issues, even by international standards

The article originally appeared in The National | Business. The GCC is raining debt issuances. From almost nothing a few years ago, all we hear and read these days is the jumbo-sized bond issuances from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi etc. The Saudis just closed a successful US$17.5 billion issue that was oversubscribed by more than four times, while Qatar raised $9bn in May followed by a $5bn sale by Abu Dhabi. Even by international standards, these are...