Middle East Loans

Demand for export credit agency financing is growing among firms operating in the Middle East as banks clamp down on lending amid low oil prices over recent years.

A hardening of the US attitude to Iran, tensions with Turkey and the Qatari crisis may be closing some doors for trade in the Middle East but experts are convinced it is opening others, with China's One Belt, One Road initiative pushing countries such as China, India and Russia towards the region.

Bank Sohar, the Omani bank, is expected to sign an oversubscribed three year loan for $300m by the end of February. Demand for the facility has been high from international banks despite the country’s rising budget deficit.

Investment holding company Dubai Holding’s telecom business — Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT) — is looking to refinance a previous facility with a Dh2.1bn ($572m) club loan.

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

Qatar National Bank (QNB) has signed a $3.5bn loan with 21 international banks, with one of those also selling over $2.3bn of MTNs for the issuer, showing that banks’ jitters about supporting Qatari entities in the wake of the dispute between the sultanate and six other Arab states have partly been assuaged. Bianca Boorer and Virginia Furness report.

GlobalCapital revealed the winners of its 2017 Loan Awards at its annual Loans and Leveraged Finance Awards Dinner at Gibson Hall in London on February 7. The full results are below: GlobalCapital congratulates all the winners and nominees.

Qatar National Bank has signed a $3.5bn loan with 21 international banks, showing that banks' jitters about supporting Qatari entities in the wake of the dispute between the sultanate and six other Arab states have partly been assuaged.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), a diversified chemicals producer, is looking to raise a large syndicated loan with international banks, according to sources close to the potential deal.

Qatar National Bank is expected to increase its loan to around $3.25bn, after it received commitments exceeding its launch amount.

Qatar National Bank is expected to sign its $3bn loan refinancing in the first week of February, according to a source close to the deal.

Emaar Properties’ real estate development unit Emaar Development is expected to launch a loan soon to fund a development project in Dubai, according to a source close to the deal.