Saudi Arabia targets $17.5 billion in first bond issue

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia plans to raise up to $17.5 billion from its first international bond issue, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing two people familiar with the offering. It would make the Saudi issue the largest ever from an emerging-market nation, said Bloomberg News, whose sources were not identified. The figure exceeds the $15 billion which an analyst had previously said could be the value of the issue. The kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter, projected a deficit of $87 billion this year after a fall in oil revenues, which still accounts for most of its income. To cover the shortfall, Saudi Arabia has imposed unprecedented subsidy cuts, slowed government projects, and last month cut cabinet ministers’ salaries, among other measures. Saudi Arabia has already issued domestic bonds.