Monday, Jan 09, 2012
RIYADH (Zawya Dow Jones)--Saudi Arabia plans to offer Islamic bonds, or sukuks, on Tuesday to finance part of a plan to build a new terminal at Jeddah airport that will cost 27.1 billion Saudi riyals ($7.2 billion), the General Authority of Civil Aviation, or GACA, said late Monday.
The sukuks are fully guaranteed by the kingdom's finance ministry and will be paid back through the authority's revenues, it said in a statement. GACA didn't specify the size of the sukuks, or if they will be offered to international investors.
Last year, GACA President Abdullah al Rehaimy said the Gulf state will issue SAR4.5 billion worth of bonds and sukuks to finance the airport.
"The first tranche of bonds and sukuk will be worth about SAR4.5 billion...and they will be issued within six months," Abdullah al Rehaimy said in January 2011.
GACA could also issue second and third tranches of bonds and sukuks of similar value at a later stage, he added.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest economy, kicked off early last year construction of the new terminal at the airport in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. The first phase of the project will expand the capacity of the airport to 30 million passengers a year from the current 17 million.
In November 2010, industrial conglomerate Saudi Bin Laden Group was awarded the contract to construct a single 670,000-square-meter terminal with 94 aircraft bays to replace the two aging facilities currently handling airport traffic.
-By Summer Said, Dow Jones Newswires; +966-546-842-373; summer.said@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-01-12 1922GMT
