Saudi hires banks for dollar sukuk

Dubai: Saudi Arabia hired Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc as global coordinators on its international Islamic bond sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The Kingdom also picked Deutsche Bank AG and BNP Paribas SA among others as lead managers for the sale, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private. The sukuk could come as soon as this month, two of the people said.
The world’s biggest oil exporter is considering international and domestic debt issues to help finance its budget deficit. The country may post a budget deficit of 198 billion riyals ($53 billion) this year, equal to about 7.7 per cent of economic output. It is also turning to the main banks on its $17.5 billion debut international bond sale in October, a record for an emerging market nation, when it also worked with JPMorgan, Citigroup and HSBC.
The banks and Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry declined to comment.
The world’s biggest oil exporter plans to raise between $10 billion and $15 billion from international bond markets in 2017 and sell about 70 billion riyals locally, said Mohammad Al Tuwaijri, secretary-general of the Finance Committee at the Royal Court in December.