Qatar’s $3bn bond issue oversubscribed four times

Alamy/Frank Nowikowski via Reuters

Orders for Qatar’s $3 billion bonds attracted bids of more than $12 billion, with spreads tightening significantly amid high demand, a news report said.

The three-year senior unsecured notes of $1 billion were priced at 30 basis points (bps) over US treasuries compared to the initial pricing of 60 bps, Bloomberg reported, quoting informed sources.

The $2 billion 10-year bond pricing was cut to 45 bps from 80 bps guidance.

The debt will help to cover the budget deficit gap of QR13.2 billion ($3.62 billion) for 2025.

In December the government announced total estimated revenues of QR197 billion and total expenditure of QR210.2 billion for 2025. The budget deficit will be met through a combination of domestic and external debt instruments, the government said.

The new bonds will be listed on the London Stock Exchange, the news agency said.

In March 2024, Fitch Ratings said forecast Qatar’s budget surplus at 8.6 percent of GDP in 2024, compared to 9.3 percent in 2023.

However, the Gulf nation’s heavy dependence on oil and gas, below-average scores on some governance measures, higher government debt-GDP ratio and substantial contingent liabilities remain a burden, the rating agency said.