Saudi Arabia aims to raise over $5bn in bond-market return

Saudi Arabia is preparing to return to global capital markets with a bond sale aimed at raising about $5bn to help cover financing needs heightened by last year’s slide in oil prices, according to people with knowledge of the plan.

The kingdom is close to hiring banks for a sale earmarked for as early as this month, the people said, declining to be identified because the matter is private.

No final decision on the timing has been made and the country may still put off the sale should market conditions deteriorate, they said. The Finance Ministry in Riyadh didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Though the price of oil, Saudi Arabia’s lifeblood, has rebounded about 45 per cent to more than $55 a barrel since the end of October, it remains below the $80 level the country needs to balance its budget at a time when global Covid-19 infections show little sign of slowing.

Saudi Arabia still expects to narrow its fiscal deficit this year after spending cuts reduced its funding needs.

Saudi Arabia surprised investors by staying away from foreign capital markets in the second half of last year, opting to cover almost all of its budget deficit via domestic borrowing.

The kingdom’s total outstanding debt stands at almost $228bn.

Emerging-market bond sales have got off to a brisk start this year as borrowing costs tumbled following unprecedented stimulus by central banks to shore up economies during the pandemic.

Governments and companies in the Gulf will issue about $120bn of dollar and Islamic securities this year, according to Franklin Templeton. That compares with a record $126bn last year.