DUBAI: National Bank of Kuwait, the Gulf country"s largest lender, has hired banks to arrange the sale of U.S. dollar-denominated six-year bonds that will be non-callable for five years, a bank document showed on Tuesday according to Reuters. Citi, JPMorgan and NBK Capital have been mandated as joint global coordinators. Those banks will work alongside BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, MUFG and Standard Chartered to act as joint lead managers and bookrunners, the document from one of the banks showed. They will arrange investor calls starting on Tuesday, to be followed by a benchmark issuance of senior unsecured paper, subject to market conditions. Benchmark size typically means at least $500 million. After a characteristic summer lull, Gulf debt markets have geared up to resume a spate of bond deals from banks so far this year, as they have taken advantage of low rates to raise cash as well as boost tier 1 capital. NBK in February sold $700 million in Additional Tier 1 bonds, the riskiest debt instruments banks can issue that are designed to be perpetual in nature but can be redeemed after a specified period. In November, it raised $300 million in 10-year Tier 2 bonds. Banks are seen constituting a larger proportion of the oil-rich region"s bond market this year as sovereigns — which last year made up roughly half of all issuance — are expected to make up a smaller share than past years, helped by lower funding needs due to recovery from the pandemic and higher crude prices. Topics: NBK Saudi Arabia’s e-commerce sector witnessing rapid growth: Riyadh chamber Saudi Arabia’s e-commerce sector witnessing rapid growth: Riyadh chamber Updated 07 September 2021 RAYANA ALQUBALI September 07, 2021 23:01 430 The global e-commerce index last year showed that the Kingdom ranked second in the Arab world RIYADH: A recent report by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce revealed that e-commerce in the Kingdom is growing at a rapid pace. The volume of transactions in the sector reached about SR21.375 billion ($5.7 billion) last year. The total value of the e-commerce sector in the Kingdom contributed $10.4 billion to the national accounts last year. The global e-commerce index last year showed that the Kingdom ranked second in the Arab world, and 49 globally out of 152 countries. The Saudi Ministry of Commerce data showed an increase in the number of licensed online stores in 2020 by 14 percent compared to 2019. The number of commercial records for licensed online stores reached 28,676. Electronic platforms increased by about 3,571 new platforms in the first half of 2020 .