Riyadh, Rabi'I 1438 H, Nov. 30, 2016, SPA -- The total local debt that was issued in 2016 until the end of September by the Ministry of Finance amounted to SAR 97 billion, in addition to the USD 10 billion (SAR 37.5 billion) international syndicated loan arranged in May 2016, and USD 17.5 billion (SAR 65.6 billion) international bond issued in October 2016, bringing to SAR 200.1 billion the total local and international debt issued in 2016. Accordingly, the total outstanding debt stood at SAR 342.4 billion as of the date of this announcement. The Debt Management Office at the Ministry of finance, which issued this press release, emphasized that the Ministry will resume the local debt issuances in 2017. The DMO is also working on the development of the primary debt market, diversification of debt instruments through issuing local and international Sharia'ah compliant Sukuk securities, and the development of the secondary debt market through registering and listing the local debt instruments on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). This is part of the Debt Management Office's objective to update and develop the Kingdom's overall public debt strategy and plan. --SPA 18:10 LOCAL TIME 15:10 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w280402