Saudi Arabia leads the bond and sukuk market with $32 billion

Saudi Arabia topped the total issuance of the Gulf bonds and sukuk market in the first half of this year, with a total value of 32 billion dollars, which constitutes 38% of the total value of issuances, followed by the UAE with 34% and the Sultanate of Oman in third place with 10%.Albilad Capital Company, the investment arm of Bank Albilad, participated in arranging sukuk issuances for Saudi companies with a total value of more than 28 billion riyals during the first half, equivalent to 7.2 billion dollars, including the issuance of Saudi Aramco, Bank Albilad, Rawabi Holding Company, and Arabian Centers Company.

Haitham Suleiman Al-Suhaimi, CEO of Business Development at Al-Bilad Capital, said in a press statement yesterday that the strong demand for sukuk issuances in the recent period comes after economies were affected by the Corona pandemic, and with the recovery currently, many companies are seeking to benefit from low interest rates and expansion. In the operational and financing activities in parallel with the optimism towards the Saudi economy in the future within the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the remarkable recovery in the recent period.

He expected the momentum of demands for sukuks to continue, pointing out that there are many requests for sukuk issuances in the infrastructure, energy and banking sectors, and many investors prefer sukuk over bonds, especially since the costs are similar between the two, but the difference is in the structure.