Arab News, Tue, Feb 27, 2024 | Shaban 17, 1445
Saudi sovereign wealth fund knocks on debt market doors for second time this year with sukuk offering
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund plans to tap the debt market for the
second time this year with a seven-year dollar-denominated sukuk, a document
showed on Monday, Reuters reported.
According to the document, the Kingdom's sovereign
wealth fund, which manages more than $700 billion in assets, tasked Goldman
Sachs, HSBC and Standard Chartered to arrange meetings with investors.
PIF, along with the government of Saudi Arabia,
last month joined a wave of emerging market issuers seeking to take advantage of
rising demand for debt before central banks are expected to lower interest rates
later this year.
It raised $5 billion through the sale of a
triple-tranche conventional bond in January and $3.5 billion from a sukuk deal
in October. A sukuk is a financial offering that complies with Islamic religious
rules regarding interest.
PIF accounted for about a quarter of the $124
billion spent by sovereign wealth funds worldwide last year, according to a
report in January from industry specialist Global SWF.
The fund plans to ramp up its deployment of
capital to $70 billion a year after 2025, from $40 billion to $50 billion
currently, PIF Gov. Yasir Al-Rumayyan said last week in Miami.