GULF WEEKLY: Saudi bonds and new governor, Kuwaiti budget and reappointed prime minister
A skimmable summary of key developments overlaid with our analysis and links to further information. Headlines include:
* Increased vaccine supplies are on the way as Covid cases continue to rise.
* The US and Iran insist the other comply first, but Rob Malley’s appointment points to a deal.
* Biden has frozen arms sales to Saudi and is reviewing the UAE F-35 deal.
* Saudi issued $5bn in 12 and 40-year bonds, with strong demand and quite tight pricing.
* The Saudi Central Bank governor was replaced with his predecessor.
* MBS confirmed plans to sell more Aramco stock in the future to finance PIF.
* The UAE cabinet approved the federal public debt strategy, focusing on local currency bonds.
* Kuwait’s prime minister was reappointed but ongoing clashes with parliament loom.
* Kuwait’s draft budget assumes spending growth and conservative oil revenue. It needs to issue up to $30bn in debt to finance the likely deficit.
* Oman Electricity Transmission Company issued $500m in 10yr bonds at 5.8%.
* Bahrain’s new airport terminal opened.
Cross-cutting themes
Coronavirus:
Vaccinations in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait have lagged our expectations and are at only 1-2% of those populations, more than a month into their vaccination campaigns, far behind UAE and Bahrain, which mainly use the Sinopharm vaccine and have delivered 26 and 11 doses per 100 people, respectively.
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