Saudi Arabia plans to issue international sukuk, or Islamic bonds, in the second half of this year, the Maal financial news website reported, citing the head of Saudi Arabia’s Debt Management Office, Fahad al-Saif, Trend reports referring to Al Arabiya.
The kingdom plans to borrow a total of 118 billion riyals ($31 billion) this year, which will be used to partly cover its projected budget deficit of 131 billion riyals, al-Saif was quoted as saying.
Saudi Arabia has already tapped the international debt markets this year, raising $7.5 billion through conventional bonds.