Qatar

Qatar’s largest bank, Qatar National Bank (QNB), has raised the country’s first green bond, in a deal that achieved a new issue discount while diversifying and expanding the issuer’s investor base.

Two Gulf bank issuers — Qatar National Bank and Gulf International Bank — hit bond markets on Tuesday to raise dollar funds, following what has been a busy period for Middle Eastern issuers. With investor appetite remains ravenous and market conditions healthy, there is scope for further issuance.

The Commercial Bank of Qatar has mandated banks for a dollar-denominated benchmark bond — the latest in a string of Qatari banks to enter international debt markets in recent months.

Masraf Al Rayan, one of the largest Islamic banks in Qatar, was out on Wednesday with its second international sukuk. The deal is also the second from CEEMEA to hit the market following the brief summer lull.

A small group of Japanese banks have signed a syndicated facility that will support the funding of a solar power plant in Qatar, which is jointly owned by a consortium of Japanese, French and Qatari firms.

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Qatar National Bank issued its third bond of the year on Tuesday, pulling in $3.5bn of orders by the time it released guidance for a five year deal that affirmed the market access for the top tier names in emerging markets.

The State of Qatar and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi looked to sell bonds this week in the wake of extreme oil price volatility that has left commodity exporters with fragile fiscal positions.

The State of Qatar on Tuesday issued a $10bn three tranche bond, with a final demand book in excess of $44bn. The deal came in the wake of extreme oil price volatility, though Qatar has buffers to protect it against any major economic shocks.

Qatar National Bank returned to the euro market for the first time since March 2018 this week, while there was also an unusual outing in Saudi riyal as Emirates NBD made its debut in the currency — the first from a non-Saudi issuer since 2018.

Qatar National Bank took $1bn from bond markets on Wednesday as it tapped investors for the second time this year, with just 1% allocated to Gulf Co-operation Council-based investors.

Qatar National Bank has tightened price guidance for its second international bond of this year and books are already in excess of 3bn for the $1bn-maximum trade.