ABU DHABI: The emirate of Abu Dhabi has completed the sale of $2 billion of 7-year sovereign notes, the government’s media office said in a statement today.
The bonds were widely accepted by fixed income investors, including American companies and investment portfolios, which contributed to significantly expanding the investor base in the emirate, Abu Dhabi said in the statement.
The UAE was hit hard by the pandemic and last year’s crash in oil prices, but a rebound in global crude demand as economies reopen has reduced the urgency to borrow for budget purposes.
“Seven years is the sweet spot in the market right now. A lot of issuers are choosing seven or 12 years because of the macros of rates,” Zeina Rizk, executive fixed income director at Arqaam Capital, told Reuters last month when the sale was announced.
Some of the funds raised might be used to boost Abu Dhabi’s foreign currency reserves, she said.
Abu Dhabi has become a relatively frequent issuer of US dollar-denominated debt in recent years, and tapped the market three times last year for a total of $15 billion.
At the end of 2020, it had $40 billion in outstanding bonds and $3.9 billion in outstanding loans. Outstanding bonds and loans totalled $29.4 billion at the end of 2019, the prospectus showed.
