The Director-General and Chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), Bader Al-Saad, has announced the issuance of bonds worth KWD50mn to finance the sector, taking advantage of the fund's high credit rating, Mubasher reported on April 9.

Al-Saad indicated that innovative financial products and services will be used to achieve development goals, ensure sustainability, and improve the fund's resources, with a target to increase private sector contributions from $500mn to $1bn by 2030.

The announcement came during Al-Saad's speech at the joint annual meetings of financial bodies and the 16th regular session of the Council of Arab Finance Ministers, as well as the 54th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development in Kuwait.

Al-Saad explained that the Fund has maintained its high credit rating supported by a strong financial position, despite some countries continuing to default on their obligations towards the fund, with the non-performing loan ratio remaining at high levels of 29%.

He noted that the fund's financing represents 27% of development in the Arab world out of the total financing from Arab funds.

Al-Saad pointed out that Arab countries have gone through numerous crises and difficult times, with the past few years being the most severe, referring to the humanitarian catastrophe resulting from the ongoing Israeli occupation's aggression against Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, which has impacted the performance of Arab economies with a decline in the tourism sector and a slowdown in trade and economic growth.