Middle East

A juicy Middle Eastern project finance loan — for Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) — will be signed by end of next week, according to a banker close to the deal.

The RMB is now the most active currency used by the United Arab Emirates and Qatar for direct payments with China and Hong Kong, the latest data from the Swift shows. This is despite global expectation of a further weakening in the renminbi.

Oman Telecoms (Omantel) sold a $130m-equivalent sukuk via auction in the domestic market on Wednesday. Though the issuer could have achieved tighter pricing in the loan market, it wanted to aid the development of the sukuk market in Oman, said bankers.

Emirates Global Aluminium has still not completed syndication of its $4.9bn seven year loan facility, despite bankers saying that the deal would have closed before the end of last year.

Turkish commercial bank Akbank has launched the first of its two annual loan refinancings, leading the way for other Turkish banks to follow.

Qatar has signed its $5.5bn five year loan with 13 banks in the syndicate. The six underwriting banks are holding at least $4.2bn of the loan between them, according to a banker on the deal.

The Emirate of Sharjah printed a five year sukuk in horrific market conditions on Wednesday, but bankers say the pragmatic emirate should be applauded as conditions are only going to get worse.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi has hired a new head of transaction management in debt origination and distribution.

Saudi Arabia’s central bank has told the country’s banks to stop selling options on riyal forwards — products which would let investors benefit if the value of the riyal falls.

A 30bp sell-off of Middle Eastern credit overnight could not knock Sharjah off course as it printed a five year sukuk in what bankers described as horrific market conditions on Wednesday.

Ever since it emerged that Saudi Aramco was considering a public listing, equity capital market specialists have been trembling at the potential for the largest IPO in history. Such a deal could also transform the Saudi exchange, finally bringing a rush of foreign investment into the country’s stocks.

Sharjah opened books on the first international bond from the Middle East this year on Tuesday. Pricing for the five year note started back of the borrower’s outstanding 2024s.