UAE Edition 
Egypt Edition 
Saudi Edition 
MENA <> India Corridor 
Logistics (MENA) 
Climate (MENA) 
Share
Read Full Issue 
The Finance Ministry plans to issue some AED 5 bn worth of bonds and sukuk in 1Q 2024, Finance Ministry Undersecretary Younis Haji Al Khoori told Wam at Hong Kong’s Asian Financial Forum, without clarifying the breakdown of the planned issuances. The UAE issued some AED 7.7 bn in debt in 2023, Al Koori added.
Background: In a bid to diversify funding, the Central Bank of the UAE and the Finance Ministry launched the first AED denominated sukuk back in April 2023 as part of the T-Sukuks issuance program, which it listed on Nasdaq Dubai in May 2023. The AED 1.1 bn issuance was 7.6x oversubscribed, after attracting some AED 8.3 bn bids.
Still trying to diversify the budget, and reduce reliance on oil: Al Khoori emphasized the Ministry’s commitment to sustainable financing in softening financial burdens, as well as the implementation of the corporate tax in June 2023.
REMEMBER- The share of AED-denominated issuances and sukuk in the UAE’s debt mix is expected to rise next year, as a result of issuers looking to diversify funding, the implementation of the Central Bank of the UAE’s AED monetary framework, and strong investor demand, including from local banks with solid liquidity, as per Fitch’s 2024 UAE Debt Capital Markets Dashboard report. The AED monetary framework is an initiative launched in 2017 to manage the Emirates’ money markets and the AED exchange rate, and maintain the peg to the USD.
IN OTHER DEBT NEWS-
UAE leads green bond issuances in the GCC, Bloomberg says: Green, social, sustainable, and sustainable-linked bonds issuances in the Emirates soared 170% y-o-y in 2023 to USD 10.7 bn (c. AED 39.3 bn), ranking the UAE the top issuer in the MENA region with 45% of the MENA region’s total issued green bonds, according to Bloomberg data picked up by Albayan. Regionally, green and sustainable bond issuances surged 155% y-o-y to hit a record high of USD 24 bn, (c. AED 88.14 bn).
The Emirati green bond and sukuk market saw 11 new issuers, including DP World with a USD 1.5 bn sukuk issuance; the Sharjah government, with a USD 1 bn sukuk issuance; Taqa with a USD 1.5 bn bond issuance; Mubadala with a USD 750 mn green bond issuance; and others.
