Order book reaches $31bn for Saudi Arabia’s first bond issue of 2026

Saudi Arabia’s National Debt Management Centre (NDMC) completed investor request intake for the first international issuance of 2026 for bonds under the Kingdom’s Global Medium-Term Note Issuance Programme (GMTN).

The four-part bond was for US$11.5 billion (SAR43.13 billion), but the total order book was oversubscribed nearly 2.7 times and reached around US$31 billion.

It is Saudi Arabia’s first issuance of the new year after being one of the most active emerging-market borrowers last year.

The bid-to-cover ratio reflects the strong demand for the Kingdom’s issuances, underscoring investor confidence in the strength of the country’s economy and its future investment opportunities.

This transaction was conducted in accordance with the recently announced Annual Borrowing Plan, which aims to diversify the investor base and meet Saudi Arabia’s financing needs from international debt capital markets efficiently.

Four-part bond spans 3–30 years

The first tranche is valued at US$2.5 billion (SAR9.38 billion) for a 3-year bond maturing in 2029. The second tranche is US$2.75 billion (SAR10.31 billion) for a 5-year bond maturing in 2031. The third tranche also totals US$2.75 billion (SAR10.31 billion) for a 10-year bond maturing in 2036, while the fourth tranche of US$3.5 billion (SAR13.13 billion) is for a 30-year bond maturing in 2056.

The indicative price for a three-year tranche has been set at around 95 basis points over US Treasuries, and at around 100 bps for the five-year. The 10- and 30-year tranches were priced at around 110 bps and 140 bps over US Treasuries, according to International Financing Review.

NDMC approved funding needs of SAR217 billion (US$57.87 billion) for 2026. This is intended to cover the anticipated budget deficit of SAR165 billion (US$44 billion) for fiscal year 2026, as well as principal repayments for debt maturing during the year, which is approximately US$13.87 billion.

Citi, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and JPMorgan were joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the bond sale.