Kuwait to borrow prudently after $8b sale

kuwait city — A top Kuwaiti official said the oil-rich country will be a “prudent” borrower after raising $8 billion in its first international bond sale at rates lower than other Gulf states seeking to plug budget deficits. Stocks rose.

The Opec member sold $3.5 billion in five-year notes at 75 basis points over similar-maturity US Treasuries and $4.5 billion in 10year bonds at a 100 basis-point spread, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on

We had strong demand from the Us, strong demand from Mena, strong demand from europe Anas Al Saleh, Kuwait deputy PM

condition of anonymity. The offer attracted about $29 billion in bids, the person said, allowing Kuwait to sell at a lower rate than Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia offered last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“We had strong demand from the US, strong demand from Mena, strong demand from Europe,” deputy Prime Minister Anas Al Saleh said late on Monday from London. “We will continue to be a rational, prudent borrower, making sure that we maintain our current credit rating and the successful secondary performance of the existing issue.”

The deal is the third-largest from the Gulf region, following Saudi Arabia’s record $17.5 billion and Qatar’s $9 billion sales last year. Gulf governments raised more than $48 billion in bond sales last year — the most since at least 2007. Oman, the largest Arab oil producer that isn’t a member of Opec, sold $5 billion from a three-part bond sale earlier this month that included five-, 10- and 30-year maturities.

Kuwait is rated AA at S&P Global Ratings, the third-highest investment grade.

Kuwait’s benchmark stock index climbed 1.2 per cent at close on Tuesday, the biggest one-day advance since February 14.

Kuwait expects its budget deficit to narrow to 7.9 billion dinars ($25.9 billion) in the fiscal year that starts in April from 9.7 billion dinars in the previous 12 months, according to figures released in January. — Bloomberg