Riyadh — Mubasher: The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), the kingdom’s first mortgage-refinancing company, seeks to debut the Islamic bond market to raise up to SAR 8.5 billion ($2.3 billion) this year.

The move highlights the GCC nation’s efforts to step up home ownership, Bloomberg News reported.

The state-run Saudi firm, established in 2017-end, will tap domestic and international debt investors with sukuk issue, the company’s CEO told Bloomberg in an interview.

The SRC is looking to sell sukuk domestically in the coming two quarters and will tap international investors by the end of the year, Fabrice Susini added.

“We may look at a public offering rather than purely private placement,” Susini told the US news agency.