GCC bond issuances see 44.2% surge in 2023

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Doha: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were the key drivers of higher bond issuances in last year. Total bond issuances by GCC countries stood at $58.2bn during 2023 as compared to $40.4bn during 2022, registering an increase of 44.2 percent or $17.8bn.

Total sovereign bond issuances in the GCC stood at $18.2bn in 2023 as compared to $17.2bn in 2022. On the other hand, GCC corporates showed a healthy growth during last year with total bond issuances reaching $40bn as compared to $23.1bn during 2022. The monthly trend in GCC issuances showed big-ticket issuances during the first two months of the year aggregating $22.5bn followed by much smaller but consistent issuances during the rest of the year.

Aggregate bond issuances in the Mena reached $95.9bn in 2023 as compared to $80.6bn in 2022. Mena bond issuances registered year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 19 percent to reach $95.9bn in last year driven by higher issuances by corporates in the region, according to a report by Kamco Invest.

The growth was led by higher issuances by corporates in the region that more than offset a decline in issuances by Mena sovereigns. The increase in issuances in 2023 was mainly driven by higher issuances by corporates in the region that more than offset a decline in bond issuances by sovereigns.

The report noted that the aggregate bond issuances by corporates in the Mena region reached $40bn in 2023 as compared to $23.1bn during 2022. On the other hand, government issuances witnessed a marginal decline from $56.5bn in 2022 to $55.5bn in 2023.

In terms of sector at the Mena level, there was a broad-based growth during the year with only utilities and property & casualty insurance sectors seeing declines this year while the rest of the sectors witnessed growth.

Banks remained the biggest issuers in the region with aggregate bonds issuances at $25.2bn in 2023 versus $15.7b in 2022. Financial services and pipeline companies were next with issuances reaching $8.1bn ($7.4bn in 2022) and $3bn ($2.5bn in 2022), respectively.