Qatar asks banks for proposals on first dollar bond issue
Published: 12:01 PM,Jan 23,2018 | EDITED : 02:04 AM,Apr 29,2024
doha
Qatar has sent out a request for proposals to banks to arrange an international bond issue, which would be the country's first appearance in the international debt markets since the beginning of a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf last year.
A spokesman for the government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Governments in the Gulf have been borrowing huge amounts of money internationally over the past few years to refill their coffers, hit by a slump in oil prices.
Qatar’s request for proposal (RFP) comes just after Saudi Arabia’s RFP, sent out to banks last week, for the refinancing of an outstanding $10 billion syndicated loan and for further US dollar-denominated bond sales. Reuters
The government of Qatar issued its last international bond in 2016, raising $9 billion through the debt sale. There is no clarity on the size of the upcoming, potential bond sale, but banking sources say Qatar will likely raise a similar amount.