Kuwait Needs ‘Optimal’ Market for Planned Dollar Debt Sale

EghtesadOnline: Kuwait needs “optimal market conditions’’ for its planned international debt sale, Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh said, as the OPEC member seeks to repair public finances squeezed by low oil prices.

News ID: ۷۶۹۷۶۴

26 September 2016

“The intention is to establish Kuwait’s presence in the international sovereign debt market and build our borrowing capabilities for the future,’’ Al-Saleh wrote in an e-mailed response to questions.

Kuwait plans to raise as much as $9.9 billion from global debt markets to help finance a budget deficit that the International Monetary Fund estimates will reach 13.5 percent of economic output in 2016. In 2015, Kuwait posted a surplus of 1.1 percent, IMF data show.

“Kuwait intends to issue under the optimal market conditions, with the timing and structure to be agreed upon with our advisers,’’ Al-Saleh said, without elaboration.