The United Arab Emirates will soon sell Treasury bonds denominated in local currency for the first time, seeking to raise 9 billion dirhams ($2.45 billion) with eight auctions between May and the end of the year, the finance ministry said on Twitter.
The T-bonds will be issued with varying tenors of two, three and five years in an initial phase and a 10-year tenor in the medium term.
The cabinet approved in January a debt strategy to develop a local currency bond market, joining every other government in the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council that already issue debt securities in local currency.
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A proposed schedule of auctions on the finance ministry’s website showed the first penciled in for May for two-and three-year paper. Auctions would also be held in June, August and October for the same tenors, the schedule showed.
Two-year notes, as well as well as five-year bonds, would also be offered in September. Three- and five-year bonds would be sold in December, according to the proposed timeline.
That would bring total issuance of the T-bonds this year to nine billion dirhams.
“Issuing the T-Bonds in local currency will contribute to building a local currency bond market, diversifying financing resources, boosting the local financial and banking sector, as well as providing safe investment alternatives for local and foreign investors,” said Mohamed bin Hadi al-Hussaini, UAE minister of state for financial affairs, according to a Twitter post by the ministry.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Mashreq and Standard Chartered are primary dealers for the T-bonds.
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