RIYADH: Saudi Arabia completed the issuance of its riyal sukuk for July amounting to SR 3.21 billion ($855.7 million), according to the National Debt Management Center.
The level once again remained above SR 3 billion, following June's release levels of SR 4.4 billion, May's SR 3.23 billion, April's SR 7.39 billion and March's SR 4.4 billion.
The NDMC disclosed that the Sharia-compliant debt product was split into five segments in July.
The first tranche is worth SR 612 million and is set to mature in 2029, while the second tranche, amounting to SR 159 million, is due in 2031.
The third tranche was worth 961 million tranches due in 2034 and the fourth tranche was a $1.25 million tranche due in 2036.
The fifth tranche was SR 226 million and due in 2039.
This is part of the Kingdom's sukuk issuance program, which was launched in 2017 with the aim of creating an unlimited Rial-denominated sukuk scheme under the NDMC.
The announcement by the NDMC came as Kuwait's central financial institution released its figures for bond and sukuk issuance across the GCC region for the first half of 2024.
Saudi Arabia was the leading player in the six months to the end of June with $37 billion through 44 issuances, the analysis found.
A report released by S&P Global in April indicated that global sukuk issuance is expected to fluctuate between $160 billion and $170 billion in 2024, compared to $168.4 billion in 2023 and $179.4 billion in 2024. 2022 will remain the same.
According to the US-based firm, the issuance of the Sharia-compliant debt product in 2024 began with a “strong base”, with Saudi Arabia becoming one of the main contributors to the performance.
The credit rating agency also noted that the sukuk market will continue to grow in the short term, driven by financing needs in major Islamic finance countries, along with ongoing economic transformation programs currently underway in countries such as Saudi Arabia.
The report added: The decrease in the volume of issuance in 2023, which was mainly caused by the tighter liquidity conditions in the Saudi Arabian banking system and the reduction of Indonesia's fiscal deficit, was partially offset by the increase in foreign currency sukuk issuance.
In April, another report released by Fitch Ratings echoed similar views, noting that global sukuk issuance is expected to continue to grow in the coming months of this year.
Fitch noted that economic diversification efforts and the rapid development of the debt capital market in the GCC region will drive the growth of the sukuk market in the coming months.
