Mubasher: Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said in a new report that it expects long-term gross sovereign commercial borrowing for the six member states in the GCC to decline to $75 billion in 2017, from $105 billion in 2016.

Sovereign commercial debt with an AA rating in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Qatar is likely to increase by 8% to reach 16% in 2017, the report showed.

Meanwhile, debt given an "A" rating in the UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah and Saudi Arabia will likely rise by 9% to reach 17% this year, boosted by a major increase in borrowing from Saudi Arabia, the report added.

Commercial debt with a "BBB" rating or lower is likely to decrease by around 67%, the report showed, adding that Egypt and Iraq will have a combined stake in the commercial debt segment of 25% and 10%, respectively.

No sovereign government in the MENA region has received an "AAA" rating, the report added.

Egypt will face the highest level of renewing its borrowing among sovereign governments to reach 29% of the GDP, followed by Lebanon and Bahrain with 28% and 23%, respectively.

S&P expects Saudi Arabia and Lebanon to issue 27% and 14%, respectively, of commercial government bonds in the region in 2017, followed by Egypt with 11%.

It is likely that issued debt instruments for Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Egypt will make up 52% of debt issuances in the region and amount to around $70 billion.