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The Islamic Republic of Pakistan marketed its first dollar bond in more than three years this week, following the return of the country’s IMF programme. The triple tranche transaction raised the south Asian country $2.5bn — and proved its resilience in the face of the pandemic. Morgan Davis reports.

Gulf corporates Ooredoo, Nogaholding and Arabian Centres sprung into the bond market this week, defying revived market volatility to raise dollar funding. The string of corporate issuance follows a similar streak from the region’s FIG issuers last week.

An environmental activist institute has argued that the bookrunners of a Korea National Oil Corp $700m bond priced on Tuesday are being inconsistent with their own climate policies, and might even be taking legal risks, because of the issuer's exposure to tar sands oil production in Canada.

Jiangsu Zhongnan Construction Group Co raised $250m from a new money and exchange offer on Monday.

Korea National Oil Corp’s (KNOC) quasi-sovereign credentials helped drive demand for its $700m bond on Monday, its first international debt transaction of the year.

Qatari telecommunications company Ooredoo started investor calls on Monday for a conventional dollar bond after a five year hiatus from the market.

The Republic of Ghana entered the bond market on Monday to sell a multi-tranche dollar bond, which some market participants have called “ambitious”. Some believe the issuer is putting size before price as it tries to locate funding for its 2021 budget.

Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production company Seplat Petroleum entered the international bond markets on Thursday seeking to raise dollar funding. As primary issuance re-starts in the CEEMEA region, Seplat is one of a few high yielding names testing the temperature.

Avic International Leasing Co landed a $500m bond well inside of fair value on Wednesday, thanks to strong support from its syndicate banks.

GoHo Asset Management Co returned to the debt market for a $100m bond on Wednesday.

South African lender Investec has secured a syndicated loan facility, with a consortium of 29 international banks. Bank borrowers are continuing to lean on their relationship lenders in South Africa, though the environment in the country remains challenging.

The Saudi-headquartered Islamic Development Bank is set to sell a dollar bond on Wednesday, having launched the deal on Tuesday. The sustainability sukuk is one of two FIG deals from the Gulf region this week, as Kuwait’s Boubyan Bank also entered the market for a dollar sukuk.