Saudi Arabia hired Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co and HSBC Holdings as global coordinators on its international Islamic bond sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The kingdom also picked Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas among others as lead managers for the sale, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private. The sukuk could come as soon as this month, two of the people said.
The world’s biggest oil exporter is considering international and domestic debt issues to help finance its budget deficit. The country may post a budget deficit of 198bn riyals ($53bn) this year, equal to about 7.7% of economic output. It’s also turning to the main banks on its $17.5bn debut international bond sale in October, a record for an emerging market nation, when it also worked with JPMorgan, Citigroup and HSBC.
The banks and Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry declined to comment.
The world’s biggest oil exporter plans to raise between $10bn and $15bn from international bond markets in 2017 and sell about 70bn riyals locally, said Mohammad al-Tuwaijri, secretary-general of the Finance Committee at the Royal Court in December.




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