GCC Investment

Saudi Aramco $12 billion bond issuance: Another big feather

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) raised USD 12 Billion with the help of its first ever-international bond issuance in the month of April. Aramco marketed a U.S. dollar-denominated debt issue split into five tranches with maturities ranging from three to thirty years. The bond received overwhelming demand from investors, as the company recorded orders of over USD 100 Billion. Demand for the bond was the largest ever recorded for any emerging market bond, surpassing order book value of more...

Sovereign Sukuk: Current Status, Opportunities & Challenges

This article was originally published in Islamic Finance News Innovation in Islamic finance, large-scale capital needs to fund infrastructure investments, and a slump in traditional revenue streams among oil-exporting Islamic countries has spurred Sukuk issuance in the recent past. Sovereign sukuk, which arrived in the global arena nearly two decades back, has firmly established its presence and accounts for the majority of Sukuk issuance. Growth in Islamic finance underpinned by Sovereign Sukuk issuance Islamic finance has continued to prosper and...

Impact of low oil price on Saudi Remittance industry

The expats in the GCC region collectively remitted USD 105bn in 2015, increasing at a CAGR of 15% from USD 53bn at the end of 2010. Saudi, UAE and Kuwait have accounted for more than 80% of the outflow during 2010-2015.  Saudi Arabia, with leading outward remittance among the GCC, countries is also consistently ranked second globally after the USA. The robust oil prices and vibrant economic activity in Saudi Arabia led to a surge in urban development, which in...

Brexit: Impact on GCC Investments in Britain

GCC Investors have flocked into British Real Estate Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) & private investors from gulf, particularly Qatar, Kuwait, KSA and UAE, have purchased prolific properties in Britain, largely in London. Indeed, a part of London is referred to as ‘Qatar Quarter’ due to the sizeable investments made by Qataris. London-based Rokstone estate agent estimates that Qataris own property worth more than one billion pounds (USD 1.34mn) in Mayfair, one of London's richest areas. Quantum of Investments Total investments...

Brexit’s multi-level impact on GCC

GCC markets remained relatively unscathed except for UAE markets; Dubai index lost 3.3% while Abu Dhabi lost 1.8%. Dubai being largely a service economy driven by trade & services, tourism and real estate witnessed a fall as British pound lost 7.2% in value against UAE Dirham. Investor’s feared the depreciation of pound against AED would affect real estate investments and tourist’s inflow from Britain. Among non-GCC investors in Dubai, after Indians nationals, British nationals had invested AED 10billion (USD 2.7bn)...