Mubasher: Kuwait’s National Assembly’s finance and economic committee has approved a draft law that would allow the government to raise as much as KWD 25 billion ($83 billion) from bond sales in both local and international markets.
Kuwait is, therefore, joining other GCC members who have recently launched and are set to launch global bond sales to support their weary fiscal budgets.
The Gulf member is planning to sell dollar-denominated bonds, unnamed sources told Bloomberg, noting that Kuwaiti government officials had been in talks with banks over a possible sale sometime in the first quarter of 2018.
“The bond is likely to be in line with or higher than Kuwait’s last issuance of $8 billion in March 2017,” Bloomberg reported citing its sources.
Although Kuwait’s National Assembly approved the draft law, the bond sale would still need to be approved by parliament.
Neighbouring Oman raised $6.5 billion from a bond sale this year, also in an attempt to support its budget and bridge its deficit. Oman is the Middle East’s largest oil producer that is not part of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Earlier in January, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi had announced plans to issue bonds in Q1-18 to bolster their ailing budgets, the news agency said.
In an emailed response to Bloomberg, Kuwait’s Ministry of Finance said that no decisions had been made “regarding any potential issuance, timing or size of issuance.” No roadshows were planned either, the ministry added.
