Qatar

Some 10 months after the eruption of the Gulf diplomatic crisis last summer, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have proved that the market is big enough for both of them, printing $11bn and $12bn deals respectively, and garnering a combined book exceeding $100bn.

The State of Qatar had taken orders of $32.5bn by lunchtime on Thursday, putting to bed any concerns that Saudi Arabia’s $11bn trade would cannibalise demand for its regional rival. In fact the strong performance of Saudi’s paper in the secondary market has helped boost support for Qatar’s trade, according to a banker on the deal.

Saudi and Qatar look to be printing jumbo bonds this week, but the timing of both in the same few days after so many months of waiting is prompting chatter about which sovereign has caused the traffic jam and whether political machinations are behind it.

The Commercial Bank of Qatar has signed a $250m borrowing with seven banks, in a deal syndicated in the Asian loan market.

Mannai Corp, a Qatari conglomerate, looks set to bring the first public bond from the country since the Gulf diplomatic crisis erupted last summer.

Mannai Corporation looks set to bring the first public bond from Qatar since the Gulf diplomatic crisis erupted last summer.

Qatar National Bank has printed two dim sum bonds through JP Morgan, a bank whose commitment to Qatari issuers has been under scrutiny since the Middle East diplomatic crisis erupted in June 2017.

Qatar National Bank and Bank of China kept the momentum going in the offshore renminbi bond market this week, with the latter’s Rmb4bn ($632m) deal the largest in nearly three years. Their success is an encouraging sign about appetite for the currency.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) kept the momentum in the offshore renminbi bond market going with a new issuance on Tuesday, showing there is still appetite for the currency.

QInvest’s head of debt capital market and financial institutions has left the bank earlier this week.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) has picked up $2.38bn of bonds via private placements (PPs) in the last fortnight. But the size of the deals are such that they would have been better printed as public Eurobonds.

Ever since six Arab countries led by Saudia Arabia and the UAE ostracised Qatar last summer, banks have been agonising over the feud.