The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) has launched a $500 million countercyclical support package to support its clients in member countries and the region to mitigate the impact resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and volatile oil prices.
The $500 million package will be deployed to support sustainable impact-driven projects within the areas of utilities, renewables, petrochemicals, amongst other energy sub-sectors, the Saudi-headquartered multilateral development financial institution, said in a media statement.
Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga, Chief Executive Officer of APICORP, said: “In these challenging times, and whilst our member countries are fighting the spread of COVID-19, and its spillover effects, APICORP is committed to fulfilling its development mandate. The energy sector is a capital-intensive sector where we are observing investment reductions and delays in implementation more than previous downturns.
APICORP will also expand its trade finance support to its member countries within the broader objective of reducing the fiscal and current account pressures caused by current market conditions
“Support for the energy and related sectors, in our member countries and beyond, helps to guarantee energy security and access to finance in these times of crisis. We will be working with other multilateral development banks and financial partners to mobilize funding and mitigate the impact on these countries,” Attiga said.
APICORP, rated Aa2 with stable outlook by Moody’s, recently announced an increase in callable capital to $8.5 billion as well as a significant increase in authorized and subscribed capital, to foster its financial sustainability and resiliency.
Reuters reported that APICORP has hired banks to arrange investor meetings ahead of a potential dollar bond issue.
APICORP has hired Citi, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered for the potential issue, which would have a maturity of three or five years and could be launched in the second quarter of this year, subject to market conditions, the Reuters report said.
(Writing by Seban Scaria; editing by Daniel Luiz)
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