The Public Investment Fund (PIF) sold a three-year sukuk in a US$1.5 billion (RM6.52 billion) size, according to people familiar with the matter. The spread was tightened to 75 basis points over US Treasuries from an initial target of around 110 basis points. Demand was over US$4.7 billion, the people said. 

The PIF, as the fund is known, also sold a US$500 million increase of a 2032 green bond at a spread of 107 basis points above US Treasuries, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Bids for the note exceeded US$3.4 billion.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co are among the bookrunners. 

The wealth fund’s latest fundraising marks a busy period of borrowing, as it juggles a commitment to ramp up domestic investments with how to finance those plans. It has already raised US$7 billion from two dollar bond sales this year, plus an additional £650 million (US$850 million) from a sterling-denominated issue in June. Subsequently, the PIF refinanced a US$15 billion loan. 

Earlier this year, the fund received an additional US$164 billion stake in oil giant Saudi Aramco to help boost its finances.

The PIF, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, is a key part of his plans to reshape the Saudi economy. The fund was likely to accelerate debt sales and seek new bank loans as part of plans to raise cash, Bloomberg reported in March.

The wealth fund’s 2024 financing needs stand at US$22 billion, Morgan Stanley strategist Pascal Bode wrote in a research report on Tuesday. That’s less than half of what has been raised through bond sales this year. “Debt is likely to feature even more prominently going forward, absent higher FDI (foreign direct investment) or oil prices,” he said.

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