Qatar, the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, hired banks to raise more than $5 billion in bonds as early as next week to shore up its finances against the global coronavirus pandemic and oil-price war.
The gas-rich Gulf state mandated banks including Standard Chartered Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG for the sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
The nation is planning the bond to support its finances as low oil prices and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic weighs on Gulf Arab states, one of the people said. Gas prices are closely tied to the cost of oil, which has dropped more than 50% over the past month.
No final decision on the timing of the sale has been made and the country may decide against the sale depending on market conditions. A representative at Qatar’s Ministry of Finance didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Qatar, a country of about 2.8 million, has unveiled stimulus packages worth 75 billion riyals ($20.3 billion) for the private sector to help mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak and allocated 3 billion riyals to local banks as guarantees to back the finance and economic sectors.
The Daily Star
03/04/2020
