Bond issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in 2011 are expected to reach or be higher than last years of USD 40bn, Gulf News reported citing a senior Deutsche Bank executive. Year-to-date bond issues have reached USD 10bn, Salman Al Khalifa, managing director, head of global markets at Deutsche Bank said. The ongoing political unrest throughout the region have halted temporarily bond issues but Al Khalifa expected many issues to take place before the end of the year due to the attractive rates. Saudi Arabia, unlike other MENA markets where most of the issues are aimed at international investors, will have a significant portion of domestic bond issues. |
Bahrain Middle East Bank made a USD 13mn full repayment of a loan obligation including a USD 1.4mn interest payment taking total repayments by the troubled lender to USD 43mn, the bank said in ... more
National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the UAE's largest lender by market value, initiated a USD 17mn fifteen-year Uridashi bond, MENA's first ever, allowing the bank to directly access Japanese ... more
The GCC economies remain insulated from economic and political turbulence in the MENA region and globally but structural challenges continue to constrain sovereign ratings, ratings agency ... more