Demand for Gulf bonds to grow

Gulf corporate bonds sales will see growing investor demand this year because recent sovereign debt issuances have established a local “pricing curve” that has been missing since the onset of the financial crisis, bank executives say.

The success of sovereign debt sales and improved conditions have whet investors’ appetites for diversifying into other corporate debt instruments.

“Over the past couple of months as sovereigns started issuing paper, including Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Qatar, a debt curve was created that generated liquidity and has allowed corporate [debt instruments] to be correctly priced,” said Nish Popat, the head of the fixed income division at ING Investment Management.