According to a report, fixed income maturities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are anticipated to stay high for the next five years. This is because the issuances during the pandemic years were intended to support global economic growth.
In the primary market, GCC bonds and sukuk issuances exceeded expectations with record issuances from the region during the first half of the year, according to Kamco Invest’s GCC Fixed Income Market Update for July. The total amount of issuances in the first half of 2024 was $113.7 billion, which was almost twice as much as the issuances in the same period the previous year, 2023. All categories of total issuances increased year over year in comparison to H1-2023. Nearly half of the year-over-year increase in issuances during H1-2024 was attributed to Saudi Arabia, with the remainder coming from the UAE and Qatar.
Bloomberg data indicates that over the next five years (2024–2028), GCC sovereign maturities are expected to total $174.3 billion, while corporate maturities are expected to be slightly lower at $165.5 billion. The region’s bond and sukuk maturities are predicted to stay high until 2029 before beginning a sharp decline in 2030. The majority of these maturities—61.1%—are expressed in US dollars, with local currency issuances in Saudi and Qatari riyals coming in second and third, respectively, at 11.7% and 7.3%.
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