Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Ministry of Finance (MoF) said it received strong demand from investors for its first global issue under the sukuk programme.

Total subscription orders for the sukuk surpassed $33 billion (SAR 123.75 billion), the ministry revealed in a statement on Thursday.

This demand is evidence of the Saudi economy’s strength and reflects the role of debt instruments issued by the ministry in achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, the statement added.

The issue is worth $9 billion ($SAR 33.75 billion) and is divided into two tranches, each amounting to $4.5 billion (SAR 16.875 billion), the ministry said, noting that the first tranche will mature in 2022, while the second is due in 2027.

On Wednesday, Reuters had reported that global demand for Saudi Arabia’s US dollar-denominated sukuk passed $25 billion (SAR 93.755 billion).

On Tuesday, the news agency had said that the Kingdom had set guidance “in the 115 basis points over mid-swaps area for a five-year tranche and in the 155 basis points over mid-swaps area for the ten-year tranche”.

The sukuk’s joint lead managers and joint bookrunners are BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, and NCB Capital, the Saudi MoF had said previously.

In October 2016, Saudi Arabia had gathered $17.5 billion from a US dollar-denominated bond issue.