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Saudi Arabia Is Said to Start Three-Part Dollar Bond Offering

Saudi Arabia Is Said to Start Three-Part Dollar Bond Offering

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia started the sale of a three-part dollar bond on Tuesday as the kingdom seeks funds to plug its budget deficit.

The world’s biggest oil exporter set initial price guidance for the 2025 notes at 170 basis points area over Treasuries, 2030 securities in the 200 basis points area and 2049 bonds in the 235 basis points area, according to a term sheet seen by Bloomberg. Global books open and the deal is today’s business.

Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc, Bank of China, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and GIB Capital are arranging the transaction.

The offering comes as Qatar, which is being boycotted by the kingdom and other Gulf states, meets investors in the U.S. and U.K. ahead of a possible bond sale. The kingdom is raising the funds as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits France after a three-week tour of the U.S.

Saudi Arabia plans to borrow the equivalent of $31 billion this year to bridge an expected budget deficit of $52 billion and fund growth plans after its economy shrank last year. Last month, it increased a $10 billion syndicated loan by $6 billion on higher demand.

To contact the reporter on this story: Archana Narayanan in Dubai at anarayanan16@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, Shaji Mathew

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