Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Qatar to launch its first bond issuance in four years

By Pramod Kumar
A trader at the Qatar Stock Exchange. The Gulf nation has not issued any Eurobonds since early 2020 Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Reuters
A trader at the Qatar Stock Exchange. The Gulf nation has not issued any Eurobonds since early 2020

Qatar will sell its first green bond soon and the first external debt issuance in four years, the country’s finance minister has said.

“We’re ready to do it very soon,” Ali Al-Kuwari told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“We are not hungry for money but it will be mainly to send a strong statement” about the need to counter climate change, he added.

Qatar recently finalised the green finance framework to ensure compliance with the criteria for issuing green bonds, aiming to mitigate carbon emissions.

Qatar, the world’s biggest producer of liquefied natural gas, has refrained from issuing Eurobonds since early 2020, when it placed $10 billion in five-, 10-, and 30-year debt instruments.

In a recent report, Fitch Ratings predicted that the global value of the sukuk market would surpass $1 trillion in the medium term, reaching $850 billion at the end of 2023 despite “geopolitical triggers”.

S&P Global Ratings forecast issuance of $170 billion in 2023.

Higher financing needs in some core Islamic finance markets will drive demand, according to S&P, with global liquidity conditions potentially easing.

Latest articles

SJP's chief investment officer Justin Onuekwusi, second from right, at the event in Dubai. Other speakers included, from left, Ben Powell of the BlackRock Investment Institute, Angelina Lai of SJP Asia and Middle East, and Robert Willock of the Economist Intelligence Unit

Wealth manager seeks Gulf growth despite setbacks in UK

St James’s Place, the UK’s largest wealth manager, plans to target local customers to expand its one-year-old Gulf operation as it seeks to brush off reputational setbacks in its home market. In February SJP disclosed that it had set aside more than $500 million for potential client refunds after an increase in complaints about its […]

A FlyDubai Boeing 737 Max. The airline's CEO says Boeing is 'fantastic' but he has sent inspectors to the manufacturer's facilities

Boeing’s ‘negative issues’ are top concern for FlyDubai CEO

Escalating regional tensions and recent floods in Dubai have “not especially” affected FlyDubai’s operations, but the low-cost airline’s chief executive said he was closely monitoring US plane maker Boeing’s response to a string of safety scandals.  “We are definitely very concerned about the delays and all the negative issues that are in the pipeline or […]

A KFC outlet in a Dubai mall. It accounts for about two-thirds of Americana's sales, but has been hit by boycotts

Americana profit tumbles as Gaza boycotts hit sales

Americana Restaurants International’s revenue and profit fell again in the first quarter of this year as Mena diners continue to shun western brands in protest at the conflict in Gaza. Americana, which runs 2,456 fast-food outlets across the region, reported a 16.3 percent reduction in revenues year on year, to $493.5 million.  Net profit fell […]

Lucid cut the price of its flagship Air model in February by as much as 10 percent

Lucid cuts electric car prices but posts higher revenue

Saudi-backed US electric vehicle maker Lucid reported first-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates this week as it sets to produce more cars this year but selling at cheaper prices to spur sales.  The Nasdaq-listed EV company had cut prices of its flagship Air sedans in February by up to 10 percent, as customers globally began to […]