MENA sovereign issuances set to decline y-o-y

Middle East and North African (MENA) governments are likely to issue less commercial debt this year as budget deficits improve after record issuances last year, Mahmoud Kassem writes for The National, citing an S&P Global Ratings report. The 13 MENA governments covered by S&P are set to issue USD 136 bn in debt, 20% less y-o-y in sovereign issues. S&P expects Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Egypt to issue 52% of total commercial government debt in the region this year. Kassem writes that “the decline in borrowing also comes as oil prices rebound following a move by the world’s main oil producers in November to limit supply to the market.”