Riyadh — Mubasher: Saudi Arabia is looking to issue foreign bonds denominated in dollars and other currencies worth about SAR 120 billion ($32 billion) next year in a bid to help finance its deficit, the finance minister said.
The oil-rich kingdom plans to tap international debt markets in the first half of 2019, Mohammed Al-Jadaan told Bloomberg TV.
He said that market conditions will define the exact timing of the issuances.
The Saudi minister did not break down the total into local and international debt, Bloomberg reported.
“We now have access to a wider network of investors in the US, which is the primary market, but also in Europe and Asia,” Al-Jadaan told the New York-based news agency.
Investor confidence
Al-Jadaan said the killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist by Saudi agents at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in October has not weigh on foreign investment.
“I haven’t seen foreign investment or local investment changing, to the contrary,” he noted.
The minister highlighted that Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in MSCI’s emerging markets index next year will help the Middle East’s biggest economy lure passive flows from institutions.
The 2019 budget
On Tuesday, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz said that the 2019 budget is the largest in the kingdom's history.
“We are determined to pursue economic reforms, control fiscal management, bolster transparency and strengthen the private sector,” the King said in a brief statement to the cabinet.
The Saudi budget includes a total expenditure projected at SAR 1.106 trillion, with revenue expected at SAR 975 billion.
The GCC nation expected that the 2019 budget deficit to hit $35 billion, encouraged by a decrease in oil prices, according to official projections.
