The issuance of the foreign currency bonds & Instruments in the MENA region reached $84 billion in 2018, with an increase in demand for new issues. The regional bond issue was oversubscribed by 2 and 2.5 times, according to a report by KAMCO, Emirates NBD Asset Management and FISCH Asset Management.
Investors’ number is likely to remain huge in 2019 as GCC bonds are listed on the JPMorgan Emerging Markets Index, adding to that, the regional governments continuity of their efforts to meet the ambitions of their reform agendas. The joint report, "Debt Markets in the Middle East and North Africa: A Growing Field for Fixed Income Investors," provides an in-depth look at the performance of the regional fixed income markets in 2018 and the outlook for 2019.
The report predicted that the issuance of debt securities in the MENA region in 2019, will reach more than $80 billion and that the inclusion of GCC bonds in the JPMorgan Index as of January 31 will inject inflows of more than 30 billion dollars on Gulf government debt instruments. Pointing out that the local and foreign currency issuances in the Middle East and North Africa reached $145 billion last year.
Source: (Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Edited)
