Oman is planning a second debt sale in 2021 with dollar sukuk

Oman is planning a second debt sale in 2021 with dollar sukuk

Oman picked banks including Citigroup and HSBC Holdings for its second Islamic bond offering this year, taking advantage of demand among investors hungry for higher yields and impressed by the Gulf Arab state's economic overhaul. Citigroup, Gulf International Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank ABC and Bank Muscat will arrange an investor call on Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter. A year after the sultanate's bonds approached distressed territory and its government discussed the possibility of financial aid from other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, higher oil prices coupled with a slew of cost-cutting measures have helped put it back on track. Oman successfully tapped the international debt market in January, raising $3.25bn. Rated junk by all three major credit assessors, it's making the most of appetite for high-yielding bonds, which are less sensitive to US interest rates. Oman's dollar bonds have gained 4.4 per cent this year to outperform all of its Gulf Arab peers, according to indexes. The finance ministry has said that as of end-March it was more than halfway to meeting its total funding needs of OMR4.2bn ($10.9bn) for this year, thanks to borrowing and drawdowns from the sovereign wealth fund. The