Sharjah issues 10-year US-dollar denominated Sukuk

Shutterstock/Abrar Sharif

Sharjah, the third-largest emirate of the UAE, is set to raise $750 million in a 10-year Sukuk, reported Reuters.

The debt sale comes amid a flurry of US dollar-denominated debt issues across the Gulf region, as governments and companies take advantage of low global rates to raise cheap debt and attract yield-seeking buyers.

Abu Dhabi issued $10 billion bonds in a three-part deal in its first international offering in two years as it takes advantage of relatively low borrowing costs in September 2019.

Saudi Arabia is also considering selling a dollar-denominated Islamic bond as the Kingdom seeks to take advantage of lower borrowing costs.

S&P Global said that bond and Sukuk issuance by corporate entities in the GCC is likely to increase in the remainder of 2019 after a slow start in the first quarter of 2019, due to volatility in the global capital market.

HSBC is coordinating the Islamic bond sale, other banks working on the deal are Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital as well as Sharjah Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.