RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has launched a $4 billion two-part bond, Arab News has been told.
The sovereign wealth fund confirmed that it had sold $2.4 billion of five-year debt instruments at 95 basis points over US Treasuries and $1.6 billion of nine-year securities at 110 basis points over the same benchmark.
The move comes just weeks after PIF closed its first Murabaha credit facility, securing $7 billion in funding, in what was a key step in the fund’s plan to raise capital over the next several years.
PIF, widely recognised to be Saudi Arabia’s vibrant economic engine, is currently spearheading the nation’s economic diversification efforts, aligned with the goals outlined in Vision 2030.
PIF manages $925 billion in assets, and is set to increase that to $2 trillion by 2030, a report from monitoring organization Global SWF forecast earlier in January.
Moody’s upgraded the rating of PIF in November, raising it from A1 to Aa3 with a stable outlook, reaffirming the fund’s strong financial position.
The US-based agency gives Aa3 for entities with high quality, low credit risk, and the best ability to repay short-term debts.
According to Moody’s, the upgrade of PIF’s long-term issuer rating from A1 reflects strong credit linkage between the sovereign wealth fund and the Kingdom’s government.
The Murabaha credit facility is supported by a syndicate of 20 international and regional financial institutions.
In a statement at the time of its annoucement, PIF added that the closing of the Murabaha credit facility financing complements the fund’s successful sukuk issuances over the past two years, underscoring the body’s strong financial position and its best-practice approach to debt financing.
In August, PIF obtained a $15 billion revolving credit facility for general corporate purposes from a diverse global syndicate of 23 financial institutions from the US, Europe, and the Middle East as well as Asia.
In a press statement, the wealth fund said that this credit facility is offered for an initial period of three years and is extendable for up to two additional years.
A revolving loan is one that can be drawn, repaid and drawn again during the agreed lending period.
