Saudi Arabia draws over $20 billion in orders for its first bond of the year, IFR reports

DUBAI, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has drawn more than $20 billion in orders for its four-tranche U.S. dollar bond, with pricing expected later on Monday, IFR reported, in the kingdom’s first issuance of 2026 after being one of last year’s most active emerging market borrowers.

The indicative price for a three-year tranche has been set at around 95 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, and for the five-year at around 100 bps over. The 10- and 30-year tranches were initially priced at around 110 bps and 140 bps over U.S. Treasuries, respectively, the fixed-income news service said.

The world's top oil exporter, more than halfway through an economic transformation plan that calls for hundreds of billions of dollars to reduce its dependence on oil revenue, has arranged the debt sale to raise funds for general domestic budgetary purposes.

The finance minister last week approved a 2026 borrowing plan of around $57.9 billion to cover a projected budget deficit for the 2026 fiscal year of around $44 billion and repay about $13.9 billion in principal due this year.

Saudi Arabia was among the most active debt issuers in 2025 as issuance across the Middle East and North Africa surged, driven by higher financing needs and strong demand, including from Asian investors .

Citi, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and JPMorgan are acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for Monday's bond sale.