Riyadh, October 03, 2022, SPA -- The Ministry of Finance and the National Debt Management Center signed agreements with BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Standard Chartered Bank, to appoint them as primary dealers in the government’s local debt instruments. The international institutions will join the other five local institutions, namely, the Saudi National Bank, the Saudi British Bank (SABB), AlJazira Bank, Alinma Bank, and AlRajhi Bank. The agreements’ ceremonies were attended by Abdulaziz AlFuraih, Chairman of the Steering Committee at the Ministry of Finance, and the CEO of the National Debt Management Center, Hani Almedaini, in addition to the representatives of the financial institutions, confirming the role of the National Debt Management Center in enhancing access to local debt markets through diversifying investors base to ensure sustainable access to the secondary market and to support its development. On this occasion, Minister of Finance Mohammed bin Abdullah AlJadaan noted that these agreements are a continuation of the developmental steps taken towards achieving Vision 2030 objectives under the umbrella of the Financial Sector Development Program. This is primarily achieved through cooperation between relevant entities to develop the infrastructure of the local debt market and increase the liquidity of the government’s local debt instruments by attracting more capital from foreign investors. This is in addition to enabling primary dealers and market participants to play their roles in providing appropriate tools. It is noteworthy that applications for subscription in the primary market for the government’s local debt instruments are submitted to the National Debt Management Center through the appointed primary dealers on a scheduled monthly basis where these dealers receive the applications submitted by investors. --SPA 21:50 LOCAL TIME 18:50 GMT 0040 www.spa.gov.sa/w1793273