RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Debt Management Center has closed its riyal-denominated sukuk program issuance for July with the bid amount received at SR2.63 billion ($700 million). The sukuk issuance for July was divided into two tranches — the first with a size of SR2.41 billion, which will mature in 2033, while the second is SR225 million with its maturity set in 2037. “This issuance confirms the NDMC’s statement on the mid of February 2023, that NDMC will continue, in accordance with the approved Annual Borrowing Plan, to consider additional funding activities subject to market conditions and through available funding channels locally or internationally,” said NDMC in a press statement. It added: “This is to ensure the Kingdom’s continuous presence in debt markets and manage the debt repayments for the coming years while taking into account market movements and the government debt portfolio risk management.” Also called an Islamic bond, sukuk is a debt product issued according to Shariah law. In January 2023, a report released by S&P Global predicted that global sukuk issuances are expected to continue declining in 2023 to about $150 billion compared to $155.8 billion in 2022 and $170.4 billion in 2021. In the report, Mohamed Damak, S&P Global Ratings credit analyst, expected “lower and more expensive global liquidity, increased complexity, and reduced financing needs for issuers in some core Islamic finance countries to deter the market.” The S&P Global report added that corporate firms are expected to contribute to issuance volumes, particularly in countries like Saudi Arabia where economic transformation programs are progressing steadily. In May, NDMC had raised $6 billion from the sale of sukuk, as a part of its Global Trust Certificate Issuance Program. In a press statement issued at that time, NDMC said that the move is a part of its strategy to diversify funding sources and expand the investor base to meet the Kingdom’s financing needs from international debt capital markets.